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YOU SAW 

these little men 
on the cover guarding the 
road that leads to Fairy Land. 
Do you believe in Fairy Land? 
If so, they will let you pass. If 
not, they will make you 
turn back the way you 
c^me and will not let 
you into 


4 


THE FIR-TREE FAIRY BOOK 










































' 



































































THE 


FIR-TREE 

FAIRY 

BOOK 


FAVORITE FAIRY TALES 

EDITED BY 
CLIFTON JOHNSON 

ILLUSTRATED BY 
ALEXANDER POPINI 



BOSTON 

LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY 


1912 


Copyright , /912, 

By Little, Brown, and Company. 


All rights reserved 


Published, November, 1912 



THE COLONIAL PRESS 
C. H. SIMONDS & CO., BOSTON, U. S. A. 


© CL A 3 2 8 4 7 9 

'Us*) I 


INTRODUCTORY NOTE 


I N the volumes that make up this series of fairy 
books are to be found the favorite wonder tales 
of many nations in a version especially suited 
for the home fireside. The interest, the charm and 
all the sweetness of the stories have been retained, 
but savagery, distressing details and excessive pathos 
have been dropped, and the books can be read aloud 
or placed in the hands of children with entire con- 
fidence. 

The reasons for such changes as I have made 
in the stories are perhaps self-evident. Surely, 
most parents and teachers will agree that our little 
people are better off without some of the sentiments 
of the barbaric past when the tales originated. 
We can well spare most of the spectacles of false- 
hood, gluttony, drunkenness, torture and gore that 
are found in the usual tellings, and we can get along 
without the cruel fathers and wicked stepmothers. 
Civilization and culture have advanced vastly since 
the time when the stories started. Our primal in- 
stincts are more controlled, and law, education 
vii 


viii INTRODUCTORY NOTE 

and ethics mean vastly more. The necessity there- 
fore seems clear for softening or changing the 
crude ideals and doubtful morals and coarseness 
that have so often survived in the old stories. 

The tales are drawn from many sources, and 
usually are the result of a comparison of several 
versions, and a combination of the best features of 
these versions into a simple straightforward whole 
such as children will read with understanding and 
pleasure. 

The plan I have indicated was begun with “ The 
Oak-Tree Fairy Book,” the initial volume of this 
tree named series, and has been consistently pur- 
sued in all the later volumes. 

Clifton Johnson. 

Hadley, Mass. 


CONTENTS 


SOURCE PAGE 


The Pied Piper 

England 

3 

The Fir - Tree 

A ndersen 

14 

The Babes in the Wood 

England 

27 

Alexander Jones 

Scotland 

35 

The Sleeping Beauty .... 

Grimm 

43 

The Love of the Snow - White Fox 

Japan 

52 

The Grazier’s Wife .... 

Spain 

56 

The Magic Horn 

Norway 

60 

The Envious Neighbor. 

Siam 

72 

Bluebeard 

France 

76 

The Spendthrift Merchant’s Son . 

Russia 

84 

The Ambitious Thrush ... 

India 

92 

The Bewitched Bottles 

Ireland 

99 

A Peace Meeting 

China 

11 7 

The Soldier and the Dragon . 

France 

121 

The Fairies of Merlin’s Crag . 

Scotland 

i34 

The Little Boy and the Big Cow . 

England 

141 

A Bottle of Brains .... 

u 

i44 

The Peddler of Swaffham 

u 

i54 

The Orange Fairy .... 

Turkey 

158 

The Mysterious Voice .... 

Roumania 

i73 

Johnny Gloke 

England 

179 

Hans the Hedgehog .... 

Grimm 

184 

The Magpie’s Nest .... 

England 

194 

Puss in Boots 

France 

197 

The Master and His Pupil 

England 

208 


ix 


X 


CONTENTS 


SOURCE PAGE 


The White Trout . 


Ireland 

213 

The Forty - nine Dragons . 


Greece 

217 

The Four Clever Brothers 


Grimm 

233 

The Youth without Fear . 


u 

242 

The Wonderful Turnip 


u 

259 

The Enchanted Dove . 


u 

264 

The Three Wishes. 


England 

270 

The Old Horse 


Grimm 

276 

The Donkey Cabbages 


<< 

279 

Sweet Porridge 


u 

290 

The Praying Geese 


u 

292 

The Darning Needle . 

The Rabbit and the Greedy 

Mon- 

Andersen 

294 

key 


India 

3 00 

The Nightingale . 


Andersen 

306 

The Princess and the Giant 


Ireland 

32s 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

The Pied Piper orders the rats into the water Frontispiece ^ 


The Mayor hears something 



6 

The fir-tree 



16 

The babes in the wood .... 



3 i 

They ran around the table .... 



37 

The sleeping beauty 



48 

There were hunters who wanted to kill the fox 


52 

Barbara admires herself in the mirror 



58 

Philip blew into the large end of his horn 



67 

He gathered all the gold he could carry 



74 

At the door of Bluebeard’s secret room 



78 

They carried him away through the air 



89 

The thrush in her new clothes . 



95 

Two tiny men climbed out of the bottle 



hi 

At the peace meeting 



119 

The bear and rabbit begin the attack 

on 

the 


dragon 



126 

The two brothers and the fairy 



135 

The cow wouldn’t stand still 



142 

The lass stopped and looked at him 



149 

The peddler of Swaffham .... 



i 55 

The dervish 



158 

He met a giantess 



161 

He rushed forth from the shop 



1 77 

Johnny, loses control of his fiery steed . 



182 

Hans rode away to the forest . . . 



187 


XI 


Xll 


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

First she took some mud 194 

Puss in Boots greets the king 198 

Puss and the ogre 203 

The learned man and his big book .... 209 

While he was looking a number of dragons came 

out 223 

The dragon pursues the ship 239 

He threw the sexton downstairs .... 244 

The bed began to move 252 

Away he went with the turnip .... 260 

The door in the tree 266 

A noble string of sausages hung from his nose . 273 

The horse started for home 278 

To his horror he perceived that he had been trans- 
formed into a donkey 284 

Begging for mercy 292 

The proud darning needle 295 

The man gave chase 301 

The nightingales at court 315 

The giant bringing home a bear . . . .331 


THE 

FIR-TREE FAIRY BOOK 































































































































































































. 







































THE PIED PIPER 


T HERE is a sleepy little town by the seashore, 
which for a time, long ago, was decidedly 
noisy. But the noise was not so much due 
to the number of people in the place, or the traffic 
on the streets, as it was to the fact that the town had 
been invaded by a horde of rats. Such an invasion 
had never been seen before nor ever will be seen 
again. The place was scarcely worth living in, so 
infested was it with these rats. The people found 
them in their breeches or petticoats when they put 
on their clothes in the morning, and it was nothing 
unusual to discover a rat’s nest in one’s shoes or 
pockets, or in one’s Sunday hat or bonnet. 

The rats were great black creatures that ran 
boldly through the streets in broad daylight, and 
swarmed all over the houses. There was not a barn, 
or a cornrick, or a storeroom, or a cupboard, but they 
gnawed their way into it. 


4 


THE PIED PIPER 


They fought the dogs and killed the cats 
And bit the babies in their cradles, 

And ate the cheeses out of the vats 

And licked the soup from the cook’s own ladle. 

Even the barrels of beer were not safe from them. 
They would gnaw a hole in the barrel head, and into 
this hole some master rat would thrust his tail, and 
when he withdrew it dripping with beer all his friends 
and relatives would crowd around and each would 
have a suck at the tail. 

They were bad enough in the daytime, but they 
were still worse at night. Then they were busy 
everywhere — in the walls and ceilings, and also in 
the rooms from cellar to garret. There was such a 
chase and a rummage, and such a squeaking and 
squealing, and such a noise as of gimlets, pincers 
and saws that a deaf man could not have rested for 
one hour together. The people could hardly hear 
themselves think, and many a mother felt obliged 
to sit up and keep watch over her children lest some 
big ugly rat should run across their faces. 

Cats and dogs, poison and traps were of no avail. 
Nor were prayers any more effective. Of course 
many of the rats were killed, yet others constantly 
came to take the place of the dead ones. The mayor 
and the town council were at their wits’ end. They 


THE PIED PIPER 


5 

were sitting one day in the town hall racking their 
brains, when a queer-looking stranger arrived in the 
place. As he tramped up the chief street he played 
the bagpipes, pausing in his playing now and then 
to sing this refrain: 

“ Who lives shall see 
This is he, 

The ratcatcher.” 

He was a tall, gawky fellow with swarthy skin, a 
crooked nose, a long moustache, and piercing eyes. 
His broad-brimmed felt hat had a scarlet cock’s 
feather stuck into its band, and there was not a color 
of the rainbow that could not be found in his jacket 
and breeches. A leather belt girded his waist, and 
on his feet were sandals fastened by thongs passed 
round his legs. He stopped in the great market-place 
before the town hall and went on with his piping and 
singing. The town beadle heard the purport of the 
song, and. asked the stranger if he could rid the town 
of the rats with which it was overrun. 

“ Yes,” was the reply, “ if you will make it worth 
my while.” 

Then the beadle hurried off to report the stranger’s 
words to the council. As he approached their place 
of meeting the mayor was saying: “ What to do, I 


6 


THE PIED PIPER 


know not. My poor head aches, I’ve scratched it 
so, and all in vain.” 


Just as he said this, what should hap 
At the chamber door, but a gentle tap? 



“ Bless us! ” cried the mayor, “ what’s that? 
Anything like the sound of a rat 
Makes my heart go pit-a-pat! ” 



THE PIED PIPER 7 

Then he said in a louder voice, “ Come in,” and 
the beadle entered. 

“ Please, your honor,” said the beadle, “ a very 
queer fellow has come to town who says he is a rat- 
catcher, and that he can clear the place of rats if we 
make it worth his while.” 

“ Then he is a sorcerer,” said the councilors with 
one voice. “ We must beware of him.” 

The mayor, who was considered clever, reassured 
them. “ Sorcerer or not,” said he, “ if this bagpiper 
speaks the truth, I doubt not it was he who sent us 
this horrible vermin in order to get money from us for 
inducing them to go away. Well, we must catch the 
evil-minded in their own snares. You leave it to me.” 

“ Leave it to the mayor,” said the councilors one 
to the other. 

“ Show him in,” said the mayor, and the beadle 
soon brought the ratcatcher before them. 

“ I am called the Pied Piper,” he said, “ and rat- 
catching is my trade. What would you pay me to 
rid you of every rat in the town? ” 

Much as they disliked the rats they disliked part- 
ing with their money still more, and they fain would 
have higgled and haggled. But the Piper was not a 

man to stand nonsense, and the upshot of the matter 

« 

was that they agreed to pay him at the rate of a penny 


8 


THE PIED PIPER 


a head as soon as there was not a rat left to squeak 
or scurry in the place. 

The bagpiper announced that he would operate 
that very evening when the moon rose, and he re- 
quested that the inhabitants should leave the streets 
free, and content themselves with looking out of their 
windows while he was at his task. 

When the townspeople heard of the bargain they 
exclaimed: “ A penny a head! This will cost us a 
great deal of money! ” 

“ Leave it to the mayor,” said the town, council- 
ors with a sly shrug of the shoulders. 

Toward nine o’clock the Piper reappeared in the 
market-place, and as soon as the moon showed above 
the roofs he put his bagpipes to his lips and began a 
shrill, keen tune that penetrated to the remotest 
nooks and alleys of the town. Then a strange sight 
was seen. From every hole the rats came tumbling, 
and ran to the market-place, until it was so full of 
them that the pavement was hidden from sight. At 
length the piper faced about, and, still playing 
briskly, went down a street that led toward the har- 
bor. At his heels followed the rats with eager feet 
and upturned noses. Every fifty yards he stopped 
and gave an extra flourish of the pipes while he 
waited for the toddling little rats and the less vigorous 


THE PIED PIPER 


9 


ones to catch up with those that were stronger. Mean- 
while the townsfolk looked on from their windows, 
and many a blessing they called down on his head. 

When he reached the harbor and had marched to 
the outer end of a wharf, he turned about and looked 
at the multitude of rats. “Hop, hop!” he cried, 
pointing with his finger toward the water. 

Not far from the end of the wharf a big whirlpool 
had formed, and the rats, obedient to the Piper’s 
orders, began to leap from the wharf, and swim 
straight to the center of the whirlpool, where they 
disappeared. This continued till midnight, when 
only one rat was left — a big rat, white with age, who 
dragged himself along with difficulty. It was the 
king of the band. 

“ Are they all there, friend Whitey? ” asked the 
Piper. 

“ They are all there,” replied Whitey. 

“ How many? ” the Piper questioned. 

“ Nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine 
hundred and ninety-nine,” was the answer. 

“ Then go and join them, old sire,” said the Piper. 
“ Good-by.” 

So the old rat jumped into the water, swam to the 
whirlpool, and down he went out of sight. 

The Piper walked back into the town and went 


IO 


THE PIED PIPER 


to bed at an inn; and for the first time in three 
months the people slept quietly through the night. 
There was no noise to disturb them, and they slept 
the more serenely because now there was a pros- 
pect they would have a chance to enjoy food that 
the rats had not tasted before them. In the morning, 
so rejoiced were they over their delivery from the 
plague of vermin that they threw up their caps and 
hurrahed, and they rang the church bells till they 
rocked the steeples. But at nine o’clock, when the 
Piper went to the town hall to get his pay, the mayor 
and the council and the townsfolk generally began to 
hum and ha, and to shake their heads, for where was 
all that money to come from? Besides, it had been a 
very easy job that the Piper had done and had 
only taken him a little while. 

“ Sirs,” said the Piper, “ all your rats took a jump 
into the harbor last night, and I guarantee that not 
one of them will come back. There were one million, 
and you can reckon how much is due me at a penny 
a head.” 

“ My good man,” said the mayor, “ you must 
know that we are poor folk; surely you will not ask 
us to pay such a sum.” 

“ I only want you to do as you agreed to do,” 
responded the Piper. 


THE PIED PIPER 


ii 


“ Ah,” said the mayor, “ then let us reckon the 
heads. Have the kindness to bring them here that 
we may count them.” 

The ratcatcher did not expect this treacherous 
stroke. He paled with anger, and his eyes flashed 
fire. “The heads!” he cried, “if you care about 
them, go and find them in the harbor.” 

“ So you refuse to hold to the terms of your bar- 
gain,” said the mayor. “ We have good reason to 
refuse you all payment, but you have been of use to 
us, and we will be glad to recompense you to the 
extent of twenty pounds.” 

“ Keep your recompense to yourself,” retorted the 
ratcatcher proudly. “ It would be better for you if 
you paid me quickly all that is my due. For I can 
pipe many kinds of tunes, as folk sometimes find to 
their cost. If you do not pay me I will be paid by 
your heirs.” 

“ Would you threaten us, you strolling vaga- 
bond? ” shrieked the mayor. “ Begone and do your 
worst now that the rats are drowned.” 

“ Very well,” said the Piper, and he pulled his 
hat down over his eyes, turned short on his heel, and 
left the hall. 

The townspeople were much pleased over this 
outcome. They rubbed their hands gleefully, and 


12 


THE PIED PIPER 


laughed over the ratcatcher, who they said was 
caught in his own trap. Above all they laughed at 
his threat of getting himself paid by their heirs. 
“ Ha, ha! ” 

But when the Piper reached the market-place, he 
again put his pipes to his lips. This time there came 
forth no shrill notes, but a tune that was joyous and 
resonant, full of happy laughter and merry play. 
At this call the children all ran forth to the Piper 
from schoolroom and playroom and nursery. Every 
little boy and girl in town hurried to the market- 
place, attracted by the magic music. Then the 
stranger began to walk up a street that led out of the 
town, and they followed him, dancing, laughing, and 
singing. 

Small feet were pattering, wooden shoes clattering, 
Little hands clapping and little tongues chattering. 

On they went out of the town gate and into a forest 
that was near by, a forest full of old oaks and wide- 
spreading beeches. In among the trees went the 
Piper in his many-colored garments, and the laugh- 
ter of the children gradually faded away as they went 
deeper and deeper into the cool green wood. 

Hour after hour passed, and the children did not 
return. Then their parents went in search of them, 


THE PIED PIPER 


13 


but at nightfall came back desolate to the town. 
Nor was searching in future days any better re- 
warded. The mayor sent east, west, north, and 
south, to offer the Piper, if he could be found, 

Silver and gold to his heart’s content, 

If he’d only return the way he went, 

And bring the children behind him. 

But never were the hearts of the townspeople 
gladdened by the sight of the Piper and his following 
of singing, dancing children issuing from the ancient 
oaks of the forest. What became of the children is 
a mystery even to this day. 


THE FIR-TREE 


O N the borders of a forest a pretty little fir- 
tree once started to grow. The sun shone 
full on him, the breezes played freely 
around him, and in the neighborhood grew many 
companion fir-trees, both large and small. But the 
little fir-tree was not happy. He was always longing 
to be full grown. He thought not of the warm sun 
and the fresh air. He took no pleasure in the songs 
of birds, or in the clouds that sailed over him. He 
cared not for the merry, prattling peasant children 
who came to the forest to look for berries. 

By and by it was winter, and the ground was 
covered with the glistening snow. Then the fir-tree 
often saw a hare scampering about, and sometimes the 
hare would jump right over the little fir-tree’s head. 
The tree did not like that at all. However, when two 
winters had passed, the fir-tree was so tall the hare 
was obliged to run around him; for each year he 
sent upward a long green shoot, just as all fir-trees 


THE FIR-TREE 15 

do, and you could tell how old he was by counting 
the number of joints on the main stem. 

“ Oh, that I was as tall as the big trees I see near 
me! ” sighed the little tree. “ Then I should spread 
out my branches so far, and I could look over the 
wide world around. The birds would build their 
nests among my branches, and when the wind blew 
I would bend my head so grandly just as all the big 
trees do. Yes, I want to become tall and old. That 
is the only thing worth living for.” 

Every autumn the woodcutters came and felled 
some of the largest trees. The young fir-tree shud- 
dered when he saw the grand trees crash to the ground. 
He watched the men chop off all the boughs from 
the fallen trees, and how terribly naked and lanky 
and long they looked then. They could hardly be 
recognized. Finally they were loaded on wagons, 
and were drawn away from the forest. Where could 
they be going? What might be their fortunes? 

When it was spring, and the swallows and the 
storks returned from the south, the tree called to 
them, and said: “ Know you whither they have 
taken the great trees that have been cut? Have you 
met these friends of mine? ” 

The swallows knew nothing about the matter, 
but one of the storks looked thoughtful for a moment, 


i6 


THE FIR-TREE 


nodded his head, 
and said: “ Yes, I 
believe I have seen 
them. As I was fly- 
ing from Egypt to 
this place I noticed 
several ships, and 
those ships had 
splendid masts. I 
have little doubt 
those masts were 
the trees of which 
you speak. They 
supported the sails 
so that the ships 
moved on glori- 
ously.” 

“ Oh that I too 
were tall enough to 
be a mast, and 
journey on the sea ! ” 
exclaimed the fir- 
tree. 

“ Rejoice in your 
youth,” said the 
sunbeams. “ Rejoice 



THE FIR-TREE 


!7 


in the fresh life that is within you.” And the sun- 
beams caressed the tree, and the wind kissed him, 
but he understood them not. 

Christmas was drawing near, after the little fir- 
tree had lived and grown for several years, and many 
small trees were felled by the woodmen. Some were 
no taller than the restless young fir-tree who was 
always longing to be away. The branches were not 
cut off, but the trees were put on wagons, green 
boughs and all. When the wagons had gone, the 
fir-tree asked where his companions were being 
taken. 

“ We know, we know,” twittered the sparrows. 
“ They are on the way to the town. You cannot 
imagine what honor and glory they will receive. We 
have peeped through the house windows in years 
gone by, and we know. They will be planted in a 
warm room, and be decked with the most beautiful 
things — sweetmeats, playthings, and hundreds of 
bright candles.” 

“And what happens afterward?” asked the 
fir-tree, quivering with excitement in every bough. 

“ We saw no more,” the sparrows replied, “ but 
what we did see was beautiful beyond compare.” 

“ That is far better than sailing over the sea,” 
cried the fir-tree with delight. “ How I wish such 


i8 


THE FIR-TREE 


a glorious lot might be mine! And there must be 
something still better to follow, else why should any 
one take such trouble to decorate the trees.” 

Rejoice in our love,” said the air and the sun- 
shine. “ Rejoice in your freedom.” 

But rejoice he never would. Time went on and 
he grew more and more sturdy and full of dark green 
foliage, and when the next Christmas drew near he 
was the first tree that was cut. Then for a moment 
he forgot to think of his good fortune, and was sorry 
to be compelled to leave his home. He knew he 
should not see the other trees again, or the little 
bushes and flowers that had flourished under his 
shadow — perhaps not even the birds. 

At last he found himself in the courtyard of a 
house in the town whither he had been carried with 
a load of his fellows, and a man picked him out from 
among the rest and said : “ This is a beautiful one — 
the very thing we want.” 

Then two smartly dressed servants came and 
carried the fir-tree into a large and handsome parlor 
where he was planted in a stout tub filled with sand. 
A young lady, assisted by the servants, now began 
to adorn him. On some branches they hung little 
bags filled with candy. From others apples and wal- 
nuts were suspended, looking just as if they had 


THE FIR-TREE 


19 


grown there; and a great number of tiny wax tapers, 
red, white, and blue, were fastened to the boughs. 
Here and there were hung dolls and picture books 
and toys, and on the summit was fastened a large 
star of gold tinsel. This was indeed splendid! 

“ In the evening the tree will be lighted up,” they 
said. 

“ Would that it were evening,” thought the tree. 
“ Would that the candles were already lighted. 
What will happen then? Will the trees come out of 
the forest to see me? Will the sparrows look in at 
the windows? Shall I stand here adorned both win- 
ter and summer? ” 

At last evening came, and the candles were lighted. 
Oh, what radiance! The tree trembled in all his 
branches so that one of the lights set fire to a bough. 
“ Heaven preserve us! ” exclaimed the young ladies, 
and they sprang forward and extinguished the 
flame. 

The tree dared not tremble again, though he 
felt greatly bewildered in the midst of all this glory 
and brightness. Suddenly, both the folding doors 
that communicated with the next room were flung 
open, and a troop of children rushed in. The older 
people followed more quietly. At first the children 
gathered about the tree soberly gazing and admiring. 


20 


THE FIR-TREE 


Then they began dancing and shouting and tearing 
off the presents. 

“ What are they doing? ” thought the tree. 
“ What will happen now? ” 

The candles burned down to the branches, and 
were blown out, and the children amused themselves 
with their beautiful playthings. No one thought 
any more of the tree except the old nurse, who came 
and peeped among the boughs, but it was only to see 
whether perchance an apple or a candy bag had 
been left among them. 

Later in the evening the children tired of their play 
and begged their father to tell a story. “ Very well,” 
said he. “ Would you like to hear about Chicken 
Licken, or about Thumpty Klump, who fell down 
stairs, but afterward won a princess and came to a 
throne? ” 

“ Chicken Licken! ” cried some. 

“ Thumpty Klump! ” cried others, and there was 
a great uproar. 

When they grew quieter the man told the story 
of Thumpty Klump, and, as soon as he had finished, 
the children clapped their hands and called for 
another story, but they did not get it. 

The fir-tree stood meanwhile quite silent and 
thoughtful. “ The birds in the forest never related 


THE FIR-TREE 


21 


anything like this,” said he. “ Thumpty Klump 
fell down stairs, and yet won a princess and was 
raised to a throne. Yes, yes, strange things come 
to pass in the world. Who knows but I may fall 
down stairs and win a princess? ” 

He rejoiced in the expectation of being next day 
again decked out with candles and glittering orna- 
ments and playthings. In the morning the maids 
came in. “ Now begins my magnificence anew,” 
said the tree to himself. 

But they dragged him out of the room, up the 
stairs, and into an attic, where they thrust him into 
a dark corner and left him. “ What can be the mean- 
ing of this?” thought the tree. “What am I to 
do here? ” And he leaned against the wall and 
thought and thought. 

He had plenty of time to think as much as he 
pleased, for day after day and night after night 
passed, and yet no one entered the attic. “ It is 
winter,” said the tree. “ The ground is hard and 
covered with snow. They cannot plant me now. 
So I am to stay in shelter till spring. How kind they 
are! I only wish it was not so dark and so dreadfully 
lonesome.” 

“Squeak! squeak!” cried a little mouse, just 
then gliding out of a hole in the wall. 


22 


THE FIR-TREE 


Another followed. They snuffed at the fir-tree 
and slipped in and out among the branches. “ It 
is horribly cold,” said the little mice. “ Don’t you 
think so, you old fir-tree? ” 

“ I am not old,” responded the fir-tree. “ There 
are many trees much older than I am.” 

“ How came you here? ” questioned the mice, 
“ and what do you know? Tell us about the most 
delightful place on earth. Have you ever been 
there? Have you been into the storeroom where 
cheeses lie on the shelves, and bacon hangs from 
the ceiling, where one can dance over tallow- 
candles, where one goes in thin and comes out 
fat? ” 

“ I know nothing about that,” the tree answered, 
“ but I know the forest, where the sun shines and 
where the birds sing.” 

Then he spoke of his youth and its pleasures. The 
little mice had never heard anything like it before. 
They listened with all their ears, and said: “ Well, 
to be sure, how much you have seen! How happy 
you have been! ” 

“Happy!” repeated the fir-tree in surprise, and 
he thought a moment over all he had been 
saying. “ Yes, on the whole, those were pleasant 
times.” 


THE FIR-TREE 


23 

He then told about the Christmas Eve when he 
had been decked with toys and candles. 

“Oh!” cried the little mice, “how happy you 
have been, you old fir-tree! ” 

“ I am not old at all,” declared the tree, “ and it 
is only this winter that I left the forest.” 

“How well you can talk!” said the little mice, 
and the next night they came again and brought with 
them four other little mice who also wanted to hear 
the tree’s history. 

The more the tree spoke of his youth in the forest 
the more vividly he remembered it. “ Those were 
pleasant times,” he remarked in conclusion, “ and 
they may come again. Thumpty Klump fell down 
stairs, and yet for all that he won the princess. Per- 
haps I, too, may win a princess; ” and then the fir- 
tree thought of a pretty little birch-tree that grew 
in the forest. She was a very real and very lovely 
princess to him. 

“ Who is this Thumpty Klump? ” the little mice 
inquired. 

So he related the tale. He could remember every 
word of it perfectly, and the little mice were, so 
pleased they jumped for joy. The night following, 
several more mice came, and on Sunday they returned 
and brought with them two rats. The rats, however, 


24 


THE FIR-TREE 


declared that the story was not at all amusing, and 
the little mice, after hearing the rats’ opinion, did 
not like it so well either. 

“ Do you know only that one story? ” asked the 
rats. 

“ Only that one,” answered the tree. “ I heard 
it on the happiest evening of my life, though I did 
not then know how happy I was.” 

“ It is a miserable story,” the rats declared. “ Do 
you know none about pork and tallow? Don’t you 
know some storeroom story? ” 

“ No,” said the tree. 

“ Well, then, we have heard enough,” said the 
rats, and they went their way. 

They did not come again, nor did the little mice. 
As the lonely days passed, the tree sighed and said: 
“ It was very pleasant when those lively little mice 
sat around me listening to my words. Now that, 
too, is all past. However, I still have the pleasure 
of remembering it.” 

One morning people came and gave the attic a 
cleaning out. The tree was dragged from the corner 
and carried down stairs. Once more he beheld the 
outdoor daylight. “ Life is about to begin again,” 
he thought. 

He felt the fresh air and the warm sunbeams. He 


THE FIR-TREE 


25 


was out in the court, and the court adjoined a garden 
where everything was fresh and blooming. The 
roses clustered bright and fragrant round the trellis 
work, the apple-trees were in blossom, and the 
swallows flew backward and forward twittering, 
“ Quirri-virri-vit, my beloved is come! ” But it was 
not the fir-tree whom they meant. 

The tree was filled with delightful hope. He 
tried to spread out his branches. Alas! they were 
all dry and stiff. He was thrown down on a heap 
of weeds and rubbish. The star that had been 
fastened on his top sparkled brightly in the sunshine. 
Some children were playing in the court. They were 
the same who at Christmas-time had danced round 
the tree in the parlor. The youngest perceived the 
gold star and ran to tear it off. “ Look at it, still 
on the ugly old Christmas-tree,” cried he, trampling 
and breaking the boughs under his feet. 

The tree looked at the flowers of the garden bloom- 
ing in the freshness of their beauty, and he called to 
mind his happy forest life, the merry Christmas Eve, 
and the little mice who had listened so eagerly when 
he related the story of Thumpty Klump. “ Past, all 
past,” sighed the poor tree. 

Presently a servant came and set fire to the rubbish 
heap. The children all ran to the place and jumped 


26 THE FIR-TREE 

about in front of the blaze, crying, “ Hurrah, 
hurrah! ” 

The tree, burned to ashes and the fire flickered out. 
Then the boys began to play about in the court as 
before, and on the breast of the youngest sparkled 
the gold star that the tree had worn on the happiest 
evening of his life. But now the tree has come to an 
end, and the story also has come to an end. 


THE BABES IN THE WOOD 


A GREAT many years ago there was a brave 
and kind gentleman who was held in high 
esteem by all who knew him. His wife was 
good and beautiful, and they loved each other 
most tenderly. They lived together happily for 
many years, but at last the gentleman fell sick, and 
day after day he grew worse. So grieved was his 
lady by his illness that she, too, sickened. No medi- 
cine or anything else gave them any relief, and they 
realized that soon they would die. It troubled them 
greatly to think that they would be taken away from 
their two children, one a fine boy three years old, and 
the other a pretty little girl not quite two. They 
talked together about the children’s future, and 
decided to give their babes into the care of the 
gentleman’s brother. 

He was sent for, and when he came, the dying man 
said to him: “ Ah! brother, you can plainly see that 
the time of both my wife and myself on earth is 


28 


THE BABES IN THE WOOD 


short. As for pain or death, we fear them not, but 
we are distressed to think of what our poor babes 
will do without their parents. Brother, they will 
have no one but you to be kind to them, and I com- 
mend them to your care.” 

“ If you treat them well,” said the mother, “ God 
will reward you.” 

“ Have no fear as to my taking good care of them,” 
said the brother. “ May God never prosper me or 
mine if I should do them wrong.” 

Not long afterward the gentleman and the lady 
died, and they were buried side by side in the same 
grave. It was found that the gentleman’s will gave 
his son three hundred pounds a year after he came 
of age, and the girl was to be paid five hundred pounds 
in gold on the day that she married. But if they 
happened to die before the money was paid to them 
their property was all to go to their uncle. 

He took them to his own home, and for a time 
made much of them and showed them great kindness. 
At length, however, he began to covet their wealth, 
and to wish that they were dead so he could possess 
it; but they continued sturdy and well. Finally he 
said to himself: “ It would not be very difficult for 
me to have them killed in such a way that my neigh- 
bors would never suspicion that I was responsible 


THE BABES IN THE WOOD 


29 

for the deed. Then their property would be mine, 
and that would be an end of the matter.” 

With this thought in mind the cruel uncle soon 
determined how to dispose of the children. He hired 
two burly ruffians, who were used to doing desperate 
deeds, to take the little boy and girl into a thick, 
dark wood, some distance away, and slay them. To 
his wife he told an artful story of intending to send 
the children to London where they could be brought 
up by one of his friends. “ Would you not like that, 
my pretty ones? ” he said to them. “ You will see 
famous London Town; and you, my lad, can buy a 
fine wooden horse there, and ride on it all day long, 
and you can buy a whip to make him gallop, and you 
can buy a sword to wear by your side. As for your 
sister, she shall have pretty frocks, and she shall 
have dolls and other nice playthings.” 

“ Oh, yes, I will go, uncle,” said the little boy. 

“ Goody-good,” said the little girl, “ and I will go, 
too.” 

So he got them ready, as if for a long journey, and 
sent them off in a fine coach in charge of the two 
wretches. - As they rode along the children prattled 
pleasantly to the men who intended to be their 
butchers. When they reached the borders of the 
dark, thick wood, the ruffians took their charges out 


3 o THE BABES IN THE WOOD 

of the coach and told them they might walk a little 
way and gather some flowers. While the children 
were running about, the men turned their backs on 
them and began to talk about what they had to do. 

“ Truly,” said one, “ now that I have seen their 
sweet faces and heard their pretty talk, I have no 
heart to do the cruel deed.” 

“ Nor have I,” said the other, “ but we have been 
paid so much to do this thing that I shall complete 
my part of the bargain.” 

The more kindly disposed ruffian would not agree 
to such a course, and they argued till they got angry 
and began to fight. They drew the big knives with 
which they had planned to kill the babes, and the 
one who wished to spare the children stabbed his 
comrade so that the fellow fell dead in the grass. 

The victor now knew not what to do with the 
children, for he wanted to get away as quickly as 
possible lest he should be found there and made to 
suffer for the death of his companion. He thought 
the best thing he could do would be to leave them 
in the wood, and trust that they would be kindly 
treated by whoever passed that way and discovered 
them. So he went to where they had rambled in 
their flower-picking, and said, “ Take my hands, and 
come with me.” 



The babes in the wood 








THE BABES IN THE WOOD 


33 

For two long miles he led them on, and then they 
began to complain that they were hungry. “ Stay 
here,” quoth he, “ and I will go and get you some- 
thing to eat.” 

So away he went, and the babes sat there a long 
time waiting for him to return. “ Will the strange 
man come soon with some cakes for us? ” said the 
little girl. 

“ In a little while, I think,” responded the boy. 

“ I wish I had some cakes,” said she. 

Then they stood up and looked all about as far as 
they could among the trees, and no one could they 
see. They listened, too, but heard no sound of 
approaching footsteps — nothing, only the wind 
fluttering in the foliage above their heads. 

“ Perhaps we had better go to meet the man,” 
said the boy; and hand in hand they wandered about 
in the wood. 

They found some blackberries, and stained their 
lips eating them. At last night came, and they sat 
down and cried themselves to sleep. When day 
dawned again they resumed their wandering, but 
they could not find their way out of the wood, nor 
were they any more successful in the days that 
followed, and as they could not live on blackberries, 
they died. There was no one to bury the pretty 


34 


THE BABES IN THE WOOD 


babes; but Robin Redbreast saw them lying in the 
woodland, and he covered them with leaves. 

Meanwhile the wicked uncle supposed they had 
been , killed according to his orders, and he let it be 
understood that they had died in London of the 
smallpox. He took their fortune to himself, and 
thought he had provided amply for his comfort and 
pleasure to the end of his days. But instead of 
happiness he experienced only misfortune. He had 
no peace of mind, because he had an evil conscience, 
and his thoughts dwelt on the death of the babes. 
Moreover, his barns burned, his harvests failed, his 
cattle died in the field, and his two sons, who had 
gone on a voyage to Portugal, were wrecked and 
drowned. In the end he was brought to want and 
misery. He pawned his jewels and mortgaged his land, 
and he was thrown into jail for debt, and there died. 

About that time the ruffian who had left the chil- 
dren in the wood was captured, after committing 
some crime, and was sentenced to be hanged. When 
he knew that he must die, he sent for the keeper of 
the prison, where he had been shut up, and confessed 
all the wicked deeds he had done. Among other 
things he told of the two babes he and his companion 
had been hired to kill, and thus their sad fate was 
made known. 


ALEXANDER JONES 


J EAN, move a wee bit east,” requested the 
town clerk as he sat at one end of the high- 
backed bench before his fire on a chilly autumn 
evening. “ You’re taking too much room. You 
have more than your share of the seat.” 

But Jean, his wife, had just got her knitting into a 
tangle, and was not in the best of humor. So she 
declined to move an inch, or to attend to what her 
husband was saying. 

“ Jean,” said he again, “ move a wee bit east. 
It’s not right to sit so selfish. I’m at the very end 
of the bench, and here you are with your elbows 
digging into me. Sit a bit east, do you hear? ” And 
when she did not respond, the town clerk gave his 
wife a rude sho^e. 

“ What do you mean by pushing me like that? ” 
she demanded; “ and what do you mea-n by east? 
There’s no such thing as east, and I can prove it.” 

“ No such thing as east! ” shouted the town clerk. 
“ Will you not believe the sun? ” 

Then he affirmed in a loud voice that, as the sun 


36 ALEXANDER JONES 

went around the earth every day and was always 
rising every moment somewhere in the east, there- 
fore, everywhere was the east all over the world. 
So he hoped his wife would not make a goose of her- 
self and talk nonsense. 

Jean now rose to her feet, and said he did not 
look at the matter in the right way at all. As for 
the sun, it was all the time setting somewhere in the 
west and doing it every moment. Therefore, every- 
where was west, and she trusted her husband would 
not be so foolish as to mention east again. 

He shook his head and was going to reply, when she 
began to run around the table to show how the sun 
went, at the same time crying loudly, “ West, west, 
west! ” 

This made the town clerk very angry, and he got 
up and ran around the table in the opposite direction, 
yelling, “ East, east, east! ” to show how he thought 
the sun went. 

Yet it only ended by their getting extremely giddy 
and banging their heads together, a thing which 
hurt very much, and did not improve their tempers, 
or help the solving of the difficulty, you may be 
sure. 

Meanwhile Alexander Jones sat quiet in a corner 
and said nothing. 


ALEXANDER JONES 37 

The town clerk and his wife agreed in one thing, 
which was that the question was of too deep im- 
portance to be left unsettled. So they went to the 
grocer, who had a good-sized house up the street, 



and Alexander Jones went with them. They told 
the grocer about their dispute; and the grocer, and 
the grocer’s wife, and the grocer’s maiden aunt, and 
the grocer’s wife’s youngest married sister, and the 


38 ALEXANDER JONES 

grocer’s wife’s youngest married sister’s little girl 
were all much interested. But one took one view 
and another took another, and they all ran around 
the table, some this way, crying, “ East! ” and some 
the opposite way, crying, “ West! ” to show how the 
sun moved, in their opinion. It only ended in their 
getting extremely giddy, and banging their heads 
together, a thing which hurt very much and did not 
improve their tempers or help to solve the difficulty. 

Meanwhile Alexander Jones sat quiet in a corner 
and said nothing. 

They all agreed in one thing, which was that the 
question was of too deep importance to be left un- 
settled. So the whole company, including Alexander 
Jones, went to the home of the mayor. It faced on the 
marketplace, and was the largest house in the town. 
They told about the dispute with all the ins 
and outs of the matter; and the mayor and the 
mayor’s wife, and the mayor’s favorite uncle, and 
the mayor’s oldest nephew, and the mayor’s old- 
est nephew’s little boy were all much interested, 
to say the least. But one took one view, and another 
took another view, and they ran around the table, 
some this way, shouting, “ East! ” and some the 
opposite way, shouting, “ West! ” to show how, in 
their opinion, the sun really moved. It only ended 


ALEXANDER JONES 39 

in their all gettings very giddy and banging their 
heads together, a thing which hurt and did not 
improve their tempers or help to solve the diffi- 
culty. 

Meanwhile Alexander Jones sat quiet in a corner 
and said nothing. 

They all agreed in one thing, which was that the 
question was of too deep importance to be left un- 
settled. So the mayor called a meeting of the whole 
populace in the town hall. The people assembled, 
and Alexander Jones was there among the rest, and 
the only persons not there were Peter the watchman 
and his sister Jessica. Then the mayor told all 
about the dispute, and everyone was naturally much 
interested. But one took one view, and another took 
another view, and they all wanted to run around a 
table to show how each thought the sun moved. 
Here, however, a difficulty arose, for, alas! there was 
no table in the town hall to run around, and what 
were they to do? They were not going to be balked 
by a trifle like that, not they. So they requested 
the mayor to stand in the middle, and let them all 
run around him, each in the direction he or she 
pleased. 

But the mayor objected strongly. He said it 
would make him dizzy to see some folks going one 


40 ALEXANDER JONES 

way around him, and some the other. “ I would cer- 
tainly be sick,” he declared. “ Therefore, I suggest 
that Alexander Jones be placed in the middle. Yes, 
why could we not run around him? Better make 
use of him, he is so stupid and says nothing. Besides, 
I want to run around with the rest of you myself, 
and why should I be cut out? ” 

“No, no, no!” cried the people, “Alexander 
Jones is too small, and we should tread on him. He 
would not do at all.” 

They insisted that the mayor must do as he had 
been asked. Hadn’t they only the other day given 
him a gold badge to wear, and he must make them 
some return for it, or they would take it away. So 
the poor man had to give in, but he insisted on having 
his eyes bandaged, and also on having a chair to 
sit in. Otherwise, he knew he would be sick. Then 
they bandaged his eyes, seated him in a chair, and 
began to run around him, some this way, crying, 
“East! ” and some the opposite way, crying, “West! ” 
But they only got very giddy, and banged each other’s 
heads, a thing which hurt and did not improve their 
tempers or help solve the difficulty. Worst of all, 
just at the end, when they could run no longer and 
were quite out of breath, Eliza MacFadden, the fat 
widow who kept the candy shop, fell plump against 


ALEXANDER JONES 41 

the mayor, and sent him and his chair tumbling 
to the floor. 

Meanwhile Alexander Jones sat quiet in a corner 
and said nothing. 

The mayor pulled the bandage off his eyes in a 
towering passion and declared that something must 
be settled there and then. He threatened, if they 
did not agree, he would put a tax on buttons, which 
was rather clever of him, for everyone, old and young, 
male and female, wore buttons, and would feel the 
tax. But he himself would be affected by it less 
than anyone else because he wore a robe, that in- 
stead of being buttoned was fastened by a buckle 
at his neck, and by a jeweled girdle around the waist. 

Now the town clerk addressed the people, and 
said: “ We must avoid this button tax at all hazards. 
Let us devise some way to solve for all time the 
terrible riddle which gives us so much concern. I 
propose that we call in from the street Peter the 
watchman, for he is up and about at all hours, late 
and early, and would know more than most about 
the sun’s movements. Yet, if we ask him, we must 
also ask Peter’s sister Jessica. She does the mayor’s 
washing and is a person of importance in the town. 
Peter would certainly decline to come into the hall 
unless she came with him.” 


42 


ALEXANDER JONES 


This was, indeed, most provoking fgr me, because 
there was no room left in the town hall for another 
person, and two would have to go out, in order to 
admit Peter the watchman and his sister Jessica. 
I was the first to be put out, for I was a stranger and 
only present in the hall out of courtesy. Next they 
turned out Alexander Jones, because he was so stupid 
and said nothing. Thus it happened that I never 
knew what was the decision of the meeting. But 
perhaps you wonder why Alexander Jones was so 
dull as to sit still in a corner and say nothing. Yet 
how on earth could he do anything else? Alexander 
Jones was the town clerk’s 

TOM - CAT. 


THE SLEEPING BEAUTY 


O NCE upon a time, long ago — so long, indeed, 
that even the very oldest people now alive 
cannot remember it — there dwelt a king 
and queen in a great, white, marble palace with 
splendid halls and high towers and a golden roof 
that flashed in the sunlight. All round the palace 
for miles and miles there were gardens and pleasure- 
grounds with terraces and green lawns and flowers 
and ancient trees. Peacocks walked about on the 
lawns, and deer loitered in the shady glades, and 
gold and silver fish swam in the ponds and fountains. 

But in spite of all this beauty the king and queen 
were not happy, because they had no child. So when 
at last a little daughter was born to them they were 
very glad and there were great rejoicings all over the 
kingdom. Bonfires as big as hay stacks were kept 
burning all night, fat oxen were roasted whole in 
the marketplace of every town, and the church-bells 
were rung until the ringers were out of breath. 


44 


THE SLEEPING BEAUTY 


A few weeks later all was bustle and hurry in the 
palace to make ready for the christening feast, and 
the maids trimmed the halls and chambers with 
flowers, and sprinkled the floors with sweet-scented 
leaves and petals. Among the guests invited to the 
christening were seven powerful fairies, and the 
choicest foods were provided for them, and golden 
dishes from which to eat. 

The feast was just going to begin when suddenly 
there was a clashing of brazen claws and a rushing 
of wings, and something like a black cloud seemed to 
pass before the tall windows and darken the room. 
Then the great doors burst open with a terrible bang, 
and an old fairy with her face almost hidden in a 
black hood jumped out of a chariot drawn by fierce 
griffins, and came into the hall. The king turned pale, 
and the queen nearly fainted, for this was the spite- 
ful fairy Tormentilla, who lived alone an immense 
distance away from everywhere in a dismal black 
castle in the middle of a desert. The queen in her 
happiness had forgotten all about her, and so neg- 
lected to send her an invitation. 

However, another chair was brought for Tormen- 
tilla, and she was given a place of honor at the table, 
and everyone tried to make up for the oversight — 
but all in vain. Nothing pleased her. She would 


THE SLEEPING BEAUTY 


45 

neither eat nor drink, and sat scowling angrily about 
her until the feast was over. 

Then she and the seven other fairies went to the 
chamber where the tiny princess lay sleeping in 
her cradle, and each stepped forward in turn to be- 
stow a magic gift. 

The first said, “ She shall be as good as gold.” 

The second said, “ She shall be the cleverest prin- 
cess in the world.” 

The third said, “ She shall be the most beautiful 
princess in the world.” 

The fourth said, “ She shall be the happiest prin- 
cess in the world.” 

The fifth said, “ She shall have the sweetest voice 
that ever was heard.” 

The sixth said, “ She shall be loved by all who 
know her.” 

Next the old cross fairy took her place beside 
the cradle, and shaking her cane at the king and 
queen, shouted, “ And I say that before she reaches 
the age of twenty she shall prick her hand with a 
spindle and die of the wound.” 

At this the queen fell on her knees and begged 
Tormentilla to recall her cruel words. But the wicked 
fairy, without replying, turned and left the hall. 
Then the eighth fairy went to the queen and said: 


THE SLEEPING BEAUTY 


46 

“ Do not cry, my dear lady; for though I cannot 
relieve the princess of this enchantment I can make 
it less severe. She shall not die, but instead shall 
fall asleep for a hundred years. When those are 
past, a prince shall come and awaken her with a 
kiss.” 

So the king and queen were somewhat comforted, 
and the fairies returned to their homes. The greatest 
care was taken of the little princess, and in order to 
save her from her fate a law was made that every 
spindle in the kingdom should be burned, and no more 
made. Life moved along happily for the princess until 
she was eighteen years old. All that the first six fairies 
promised had come true, and she was the best and 
cleverest, the most beautiful and the happiest and 
the sweetest-voiced princess in all the world, and 
everybody loved her. Indeed, by this time Tormen- 
tilla’s spiteful words were nearly forgotten. 

But one morning the king and queen went away to 
be gone till late in the afternoon, and the princess 
amused herself by wandering about into the out-of- 
the-way nooks and corners and attics of the great 
building. She found dusty furniture that was often so 
quaint it made her laugh, and there were many other 
curiosities. At last she climbed a narrow winding 
stair in an old tower. It led to a little door with a 


THE SLEEPING BEAUTY 


47 


rusty key sticking out of the lock. She turned the 
key, opened the door, and there, in a low chamber, 
sat a white-capped old woman with a spinning- 
wheel before her on which she was spinning flax. 
This poor old woman had been allowed many years 
previous to make her home in the tower, and it 
happened that she had never heard the king’s com- 
mand to destroy the spindles; for she was so deaf 
that if you shouted till you were hoarse she never 
would have been able to understand you. 

The princess stood on the threshold watching the 
old woman curiously. This was the first time she 
had ever seen a spinning-wheel. “ What pretty 
work you are doing,” she said presently; “ and why 
does that wheel go whirr, whirr, whirr? ” 

But of course the old woman did not hear, and 
she neither answered nor lifted her eyes from her 
work. So the princess stepped into the room and 
laid her hand on the old woman’s shoulder. The 
spinner looked up and rubbed her eyes. “ Deary, 
deary me! ” cried she in a high, cracked voice, “ and 
who may you be, my pretty darling? ” 

“ I’m the princess,” screamed the maiden in her 
ear, but the spinner only shook her head — she 
could hear nothing. 

Then the princess pointed to the spindle on which 


THE SLEEPING BEAUTY 


48 

the flax was twirling into thread, and made the old 
woman understand that she wanted to try if she 
could work it. The spinner nodded and laughed and 
got up from her seat, and the princess sat down at the 
wheel, but she had hardly begun to spin when she 
pricked her finger with the spindle. Immediately 
a faintness seized her. She staggered to a bed close 
by, and as soon as her head touched the pillow she 
became unconscious. 

At the same moment there was a deep silence 
everywhere in the castle. The little bird that just 
before had been singing so sweetly on the window- 
sill hushed its song. The distant hum of voices from 
the courtyard beneath was stilled. Even the old 
woman, who had been standing beside her wheel 
telling the princess how to spin, stopped short and 
fell asleep. In the great hall, the king and queen, 
who had just returned, and were inquiring for their 
daughter, fell asleep before the lady-in-waiting could 
answer them, and the lady herself began to snore. 
The guards slumbered at their posts. The horses 
in their stalls became motionless, and so did the 
dogs in the yard, the pigeons on the roof, and the 
flies on the wall. The fire on the hearth stopped 
burning, and the meat on the spit ceased roasting. 
In short, sleep fell on the whole castle, and round 



1 HE SLEEPING BEAUTY 
















8 . I 













THE SLEEPING BEAUTY 


49 

about it there sprung up a thick and thorny magic 
wood which it seemed impossible for anyone to 
penetrate, and which hid the entire castle from view 
except a weather-vane on the roof. 

Time went on until a hundred years had passed, 
and then one day a king’s son happened to be hunting 
in the region. He became separated from his at- 
tendants in the excitement of the chase, and at 
length he came to a woodcutter’s cottage and dis- 
mounted to ask the way. The old man who lived 
in the hut gave him the required directions, and then 
told the prince about a thick wood a little farther on 
in the direction he had been riding. “ No one has 
ever been able to get through that wood,” said the 
old man, “ and my grandfather used to say it sur- 
rounded a castle in which was a beautiful princess 
condemned to sleep for a hundred years. He said 
some prince would come and awaken her with a 
kiss.” 

On hearing this, nothing would do but the prince 
must go and have a look at the wood. He found it, 
and dismounted and prepared to push his way 
through the thorny thicket. But no sooner did he 
start to penetrate the wood than the tangled briars 
of the undergrowth were changed into beautiful 
flowers which parted and bent aside to let him pass. 


THE SLEEPING BEAUTY 


50 

When he reached the courtyard he saw the dogs 
lying asleep, and on the roof the pigeons were sitting 
with their heads under their wings. He went in- 
doors, and there were the flies asleep on the wall, 
and there was the cook with his hand uplifted to 
strike the kitchen boy, and a maid sitting near by 
had a fowl on her lap ready to pluck. When the 
prince entered the great hall he found the whole 
court asleep, and the king and queen slumbering on 
their thrones. Everything was so still he could hear 
his own breathing. 

As yet he saw no princess, and he continued look- 
ing about till he came to the old tower and ascended 
the narrow, winding stair. He went into the little 
room where the princess lay, and she looked so 
lovely in her sleep that he could not turn away his 
eyes, and presently he stooped and kissed her. At 
once she awoke and said: “ O prince, are you here 
at last? I have had such pleasant dreams! ” 

She sat up laughing and rubbing her eyes, and 
after a few moments stood on her feet, and they went 
hand in hand out of the room. The old woman stared 
at them in amazement, and then, mumbling to 
herself, resumed her spinning. They descended 
the stairs and passed along the corridors until they 
came to the throne room. The king and queen and 


THE SLEEPING BEAUTY 


51 

whole court had just waked up and were gazing at 
each other with wonderment. The long sleep was 
ended for the rest of the palace also. Roosters 
crowed, dogs barked, the cats began to mew, the 
clocks struck the hours, the heralds blew their 
trumpets, the pigeons flew away from the roof to 
the fields, the kitchen fire blazed up, and the meat 
was again roasting, the cook gave the kitchen boy 
such a box on the ear that he roared lustily, and the 
maid began to pluck the fowl. 

In short, everything went on as if there had been 
no enchantment at all. To be sure, the dress the 
princess was wearing was such as the prince’s great- 
grandmother might have worn, but that gave them 
something to laugh at. 

As soon as preparations could be made, the wed- 
ding of the prince and princess was celebrated with 
great splendor, and they lived happily ever after. 


THE LOVE OF THE 
SNOW-WHITE FOX 


O NCE upon a time there lived a young fox 
that was snow-white, and it was so gentle 
and intelligent that it was beloved by all the 
good people for miles around. If, in the evening, it 
knocked softly at their doors with its tail they were 
glad, and were quick to let 
it in. When it entered it 
would play with the children, 
eat of their humble fare, and 
then trot away. But there 
were hunters in the country 
who wanted to kill the beau- 
tiful white fox. Once or twice 
it nearly lost its life at the 
hands of these cruel men. 

One summer afternoon, as it was frisking about 
in the. woods with some young fox friends, two men 
caught sight of it. They were fleet of foot and had 
dogs with them. Away ran the white fox, and the 



THE LOVE OF THE SNOW-WHITE FOX 53 

men uttered an excited cry and gave chase. Instead 
of going deeper into the forest the fox ran across the 
open farm lands until it came to a holy temple. 
“ There, surely, I will find a safe refuge from my 
pursuers,” it thought. 

In the temple there happened to be a young prince 
of noble family named Yashi, deep in meditation. 
The white fox, whose strength was nearly spent, 
came running in at the door and went directly to 
the prince and took refuge behind him. The poor 
creature trembled with fright, and Yashi took pity 
on it and did all he could to calm its fears. “ I will 
protect you, little one,” said he. “ No one shall 
harm you.” 

The fox looked up at him and seemed to under- 
stand his words. It ceased to tremble. The prince 
went to the door of the great 
temple. Two men hastened up 
to him and asked if he had seen 
a snow-white fox. “ It must have 
run into the temple,” they de- 
clared. 

But Yashi, faithful to his' 
promise, answered, “ I have been 
in the temple praying, but I can tell you nothing of 
the fox.” 



54 THE LOVE OF THE SNOW-WHITE FOX 

The men were about to go on when they caught 
a glimpse of the fox behind him. Fiercely they de- 
manded that he should stand aside. The prince 
firmly refused. Then the men, intent on having 
their prey, attacked him, and he was obliged to draw 
his sword in self-defense. At this moment Yashi’s 
father, a brave old man, came up. He rushed on the 
assailants of his son, but a deadly blow, which Yashi 
could not avert, struck the old man down. This 
made Yashi very wroth, and with two mighty strokes 
he felled his adversaries to the ground. 

The loss of his father filled Yashi with grief, and 
as he stood looking down on the body his heart was 
very heavy. Just then a sweet song from within the 
sacred building greeted his ears. Who could the 
singer be? for there was no one inside when he came 
out. He reentered the temple, and a beautiful 
maiden appeared before him. He saw from her look 
and manner that she knew he was in deep trouble, 
and he told her of the snow-white fox and the cruel 
hunters, and of the death of his father. Then the 
maiden spoke to Yashi tender words of sympathy, 
and her voice was so kindly and gentle that even 
the sound of it brought comfort to him. 

Presently he asked her who she was, and she 
replied that she was a homeless stranger. So he 


THE LOVE OF THE SNOW-WHITE FOX 55 

insisted that she should dwell with him. As the 
days passed she constantly became more attractive 
to him, until he loved her more than anyone else in 
the world and asked her to be his bride. 

“ I already love you,” she replied. “ I know that 
you are good and brave, and I would solace you for 
the loss of your father.” 

So they were married and lived happily together. 
Time passed swiftly, and Yashi ruled his people 
wisely. At length a son was born to the prince and 
princess, and they were more happy than ever. 
But one day Yashi noticed that the princess was 
sorely troubled. For hours she sat alone, and tears 
sprang to her eyes when Yashi asked her the cause 
of her sorrow. 

She took his hand and said: “My life with you 
has been very delightful. But now that I have given 
you a son to be with you always, I must leave you. 
I am the snow-white fox whose life you saved.” 

Once again she looked into his eyes, and then 
without another word was gone. Yashi and his 
son lived long and were greatly beloved, but the 
snow-white fox was seen no more. 


THE GRAZIER’S WIFE 


I N a certain valley, long ago, there dwelt a grazier 
who had a wife named Barbara. The grazier 
was famous for his valor in encountering wolves, 
and there was not in all the valley a man who was 
his match in handling the quarter-staff. Moreover, 
so expert was he with a sling that he could hurl a 
stone a distance of a hundred yards and hit a deer 
between the eyes, and so kill it. With his knife he 
was equally skilful, and he was greatly feared in a 
quarrel. Yet in spite of all his prowess and courage 
he quailed before his wife Barbara. 

She was no longer young, and her beauty was a 
thing of the past, but she was a woman who made 
herself respected. She never failed to produce a 
startling eifect on her husband when she visited him 
as he was tending his herds on the mountain-sides, 
for no other woman ever had such a tongue. He 
often prayed to the saints for relief, but she con- 
tinued to both plague him with her tongue and mark 
him with her nails. 

At last he applied for advice to an old wizard who 


THE GRAZIER’S WIFE 


57 


lived in a neighboring valley. He had begun telling 
of his troubles when the wizard interrupted him and 
said: “ I see plainly that you are complaining bitterly, 
but I would have you know that I am deaf, and no 
matter how violently you shout and jump and gesture, 
what you say or do will have no effect on me. Never- 
theless, let me tell you, that if you have some bright 
yellow gold to bestow on me, you will be heard and 
understood. Yes, I would hear and comprehend, even 
if you were dumb and had no voice whatever.” 

“ I will hasten to the market,” said the grazier, 
“ and sell some of my finest beasts, and the money 
that I receive for them I will gladly give to you.” 

So away he went and sold some of his beasts and 
returned to the wizard and counted out the gold- 
pieces one by one. Then the wizard listened patiently 
to his story and sent him home with a promise of 
speedy relief. 

That very night, after the grazier and his wife 
were in bed, and the latter was delivering a lengthy 
lecture on his lack of breeding in snoring when a 
lady was speaking, a white figure appeared at the 
bedside with a mirror in its hand. 

“ Barbara,” said the specter, “ your virtues are 
known to me, and as a reward you shall be restored 
to youth and beauty, which you shall yourself be- 


THE GRAZIER’S WIFE 


58 

hold when you look into this mirror. But beware 
lest angry or vain words pass your lips, for such a 
lapse will be punished by hideous old age and in- 
firmity.” 

So saying, the apparition vanished. Barbara lit 
a lamp and occupied herself in admiring her reflection 



in the magic mirror. Thus the grazier was enabled 
to enjoy an unbroken sleep till morning, a thing 


THE GRAZIER’S WIFE 


59 

he had not done for years. He had peace also on 
the morrow and ever after, for Barbara never allowed 
the mirror to pass out of her possession, and it was 
a constant solace to her even to the day of her 
death. 


THE MAGIC HORN 


O NCE upon a time there was a poor farmer 
who had three sons, and the sons’ names were 
Peter, Paul, and Philip. None of the three 
liked work very well, arid instead of helping their 
father they spent most of their time sauntering 
about. At last Peter heard that the king wanted a 
keeper to watch his rabbits. So the youth told his 
father that he would go to the king’s palace and 
apply for the position. 

“ I doubt if you are fitted for just that sort of 
work,” said his father. “ He who keeps the king’s 
rabbits needs to be light and quick, and no lazy- 
bones. You could not loiter when the rabbits began 
to skip and frisk, for if you dawdled as you do at 
home you would be discharged.” 

But the father’s advice had no effect. Peter was 
determined to go, and after filling a bag with some- 
thing to eat and drink and a few other necessaries, 
he took the bag on his back and started. He had 
not traveled many miles when he heard a voice 
calling for help. On going in the direction of the 


THE MAGIC HORN 


6 1 


sound he found an old woman in a pit from which she 
was unable to climb out. “ Don’t stand there 
staring,” said she sharply. “ Reach me your hand 
and pull me up. I have been in this pit a whole year, 
and in all that time I have not had a morsel of 
food.” 

“ What! ” exclaimed Peter, “ a whole year, do 
you say? Then you must be a witch, or you could 
not fast so long, and I will have nothing to do with 
you.” 

So off he marched. At length he arrived at the 
king’s palace and was engaged as the keeper of the 
rabbits. He was promised plenty of food and good 
pay and maybe the princess into the bargain, for 
the king had decreed that any keeper who took such 
good care of the rabbits that not one of them es- 
caped should have the princess for his wife. 

The next day Peter let the rabbits out to browse. 
As long as they were near the stables and in the 
adjacent open fields he kept them in one flock, but 
toward evening they got into a wood and began to 
scuttle about among the trees. Peter ran after them 
this way and that until he had no breath left for 
any more running. He could not get the rabbits to- 
gether. They all disappeared, and he saw nothing 
more of them. 


62 


THE MAGIC HORN 


After resting a while he started to go back to 
the palace. As he went along he kept a sharp look- 
out, and he stopped to call his fugitive charges at 
every fence. But no rabbits came, and when he 
reached the palace there stood the king waiting for 
him. It was plain that Peter had failed, and for a 
punishment he was banished from the country. 

The king presently got a new lot of rabbits, and 
then he let it be known that he wanted a keeper. 
Peter’s brother Paul heard of this, and nothing would 
do but he must try for the place. Away he went, 
and by and by he found the old woman in the pit 
just as Peter had, and he would not help her out. 
When he got to the palace he was promptly engaged 
as keeper of the rabbits, and the next day he let 
them out to feed. All went well until in the late 
afternoon they went from the fields into the woods. 
Then they skipped and hopped away, and though he 
rushed about and raced after them till he was ready 
to drop, they all escaped. So he returned to the 
palace without a rabbit, and the king ordered that 
he should leave the country. 

More rabbits were obtained to replace those lost, 
and again word went forth that his Majesty wanted 
a keeper for them. Philip, the youngest of the three 
brothers, heard of this and concluded to apply for 


THE MAGIC HORN 


63 

the job. “ It will be just the right work for me,” he 
said to his father. “ I would like nothing better 
than to spend my days in the fields and woodlands 
watching the rabbit flock, and I would be sure to 
have plenty of time to nap on the sunny hillsides. ” 

“ I fear,” said the old farmer, “ that you will fare 
no better than your two brothers. The person who 
keeps the king’s rabbits must not be like a fellow 
with leaden soles to his shoes, or like a fly in a tar- 
pot.” 

“ Well,” responded Philip, “ however things may 
turn out, I shall get the job if I can. Surely it will 
be no harder than to take care of the calf and goat 
here at home.” 

So he packed his bag, lifted it to his shoulder, 
and started for the palace of the king. He trudged 
along until he heard a voice calling, and when he 
looked about he saw the old woman in the pit. 
“ Good-day, grandmother,” said he, “ what can I 
do for you ? ” 

“ Help me out of this hole,” she said, “ and give 
me something to eat. I will do you a good turn 
afterward, you may depend on it.” 

He was willing enough, and he pulled her out of 
the pit. Then he opened his bag and sat down to eat 
and drink with her. She had a keen appetite after 


THE MAGIC HORN 


64 

her long fast, and naturally got the lion’s share, but 
that did not trouble Philip any. As soon as they 
finished, she gave him a magic horn, and said: “ If 
you blow into the small end of it, whatever you wish 
away will be scattered to the four winds; and if you 
blow into the large end the things you wish near 
will at once come about you. Should the horn ever 
be lost or taken from you, all you have to do is to 
wish for it, and it will return to you.” 

“ Very good,” responded Philip. “ Such a horn 
is worth having.” 

So saying, he resumed his walk, and at length he 
came to the king’s palace. He was hired to keep the 
rabbits, and he was much pleased, for he was certain 
of good food and generous wages, and if he were 
clever enough not to lose any of the rabbits he might 
win the princess, too. The next morning he began 
work, and at first he found the task an easy one. 
As long as the rabbits were in the lanes and fields 
they behaved very well, but while he was eating 
his noon lunch they wandered to the woodland, 
where they frisked about and scampered away into 
the underbrush. 

“ Ho, ho! ” cried Philip, “ you want to leave me, 
do you? Well, off with you then,” and he blew into 
the small end of the magic horn. 


THE MAGIC HORN 65 

Immediately they were all gone from view, and 
Philip found a mossy spot to his liking and lay 
down to sleep till eventide. The sun was low in the 
west when he awoke, and he took up his horn and 
blew into the large end of it. At once the rabbits 
came frolicking about him, and he led them like a 
flock of sheep to the king’s palace. The king, the 
queen, and the princess, too, all came out on the 
porch and wondered how he contrived to manage 
the rabbits so well. Several times the king counted 
them to make sure they were all there and he had 
to acknowledge that not one was missing. 

“ That rabbit-keeper would be a fine lad,” said 
the princess, “ if only he was of noble birth.” 

The next day he took the rabbits out again, and 
when they roamed to the woodland he lay down in 
the shade at the edge of the wood close to the sunny 
slope where the wild strawberries grew and scented 
the air with their sweet odor. 

The king was curious to learn how the youth con- 
trived to control the rabbits so admirably, and he 
sent a servant to watch him. By and by the servant 
came peeping about among the trees and spied Philip 
asleep in the pleasant shade of the woodland. He 
hid in a thicket and waited. Toward evening he saw 
Philip rise to his feet and blow his horn, and im- 


66 


THE MAGIC HORN 


mediately all the rabbits came scampering about 
him. The servant hastened home and told the king 
what he had observed, and the king told his wife and 
daughter. 

“ Unless we put a stop to his using that horn,” 
said the princess, “ I shall have to marry him, and he 
is only a common farmer’s son. Tomorrow I shall 
go to the wood, and while he is asleep I will take his 
horn and bring it home to the palace.” 

She went to the wood just as she had planned, and 
she had little trouble in getting possession of the 
horn. When Philip awoke it was gone — and how 
was he to bring the rabbits together? But he re- 
membered that the old woman had said he could 
get it back by wishing. So he wished for it; and 
the princess, who had nearly reached the palace, 
felt it suddenly slip through her fingers, and though 
she searched all about she could not find it. The horn 
had returned to the hands of Philip in the woodland, 
and he immediately blew it to fetch the rabbits 
together, and then he went with them to the palace. 

The royal family saw that Philip had the horn, 
and the queen said she would go the next day and 
take it, and they might be sure she would bring it 
home. The morrow came, and in the early afternoon 
off she tramped to the wood. She secured the horn 



Philip blows into the large end of his horn 



THE MAGIC HORN 


69 

and hurried away with it, holding it very tight, but 
as she approached the palace it slipped from her 
grasp, and by and by the rabbit-keeper returned with 
his horn and flock as usual. 

“ I shall have to look into this matter myself,” 
grumbled the king, “ if we are going to get that 
wretched horn into our possession. You women 
plan all right, but it usually takes a man to carry a 
plan to a successful conclusion.” 

The following day, while Philip was having his 
nap in the wood, the king came to the spot where 
the youth lay and took the horn. To make doubly 
sure of it, the king put the horn in a bag he had 
brought along for the purpose. Back he went to the 
palace. His wife and daughter met him at the door, 
and he triumphantly opened the bag to show them 
the horn; but it was not there. He had not suc- 
ceeded any better than the women folk. “ Plague 
take the fellow!” he exclaimed. “There is some 
magic about the way that horn disappears. The 
lad gets the best of us every time, and I suppose he 
might as well marry into the family first as last.” 

Pretty soon Philip arrived with his flock of rabbits 
and put them in their night quarters. Then he 
heard the king calling to him, and went to the palace 
porch, where he found all the royal family waiting 


70 THE MAGIC HORN 

for him. “ What sort of a horn is that of yours? ” 
asked the king. “ It looks ordinary enough, but I 
am sure it has some strange power or you would not 
be able to take such excellent care of the rabbits and 
never lose a single one of them.” 

“ It was given to me by an old woman,” said 
Philip, “ and if I blow in one end it does one thing, 
and if I blow in the other it does the opposite.” 

“ Oh, bother your explanations! ” cried the king. 
“ Show us its power, and then we shall understand.” 

“ But perhaps the showing would not please your 
Majesty,” said Philip. 

“ Stuff and nonsense!” the king exclaimed. “ I 
said, ‘Show us.’ Who is king here — you or me? 
It is my business to command, and it is yours to 
obey.” 

“ Very well,” responded Philip, “ then I wish you 
to scatter; ” and he blew a good strong blast into 
the little end of his horn. 

At once the king, very much against his will, and 
kicking savagely, was hurried off north, the queen 
flew east, and the princess west, and a little kitchen 
maid, who had come up behind Philip and was look- 
ing on, was hustled off south in such sudden haste 
it seemed to her she would be scared out of a year’s 
growth. 


THE MAGIC HORN 


7i 

“ Stop me, you rascal! Bring me back! ” yelled 
the king as he vanished in the distance. 

Philip turned the horn about and blew into the 
big end. In a few moments the king and the others 
were back on the porch; and the little maid, vastly 
astonished by her experiences, lost no time in es- 
caping to the kitchen. “ What do you mean by 
treating me in that fashion?” the king demanded. 
“ You shall hang for it.” 

Philip raised the little end of the horn to his lips, 
and the king, fearful that he would have to repeat 
his wild race, called out: “ Enough! enough! The 
fault was mine. You shall have my daughter and 
half the kingdom if only you won’t blow that hor- 
rible horn in my presence. I’m too old and stiff to 
be dashing about over the country as I did just now.” 

So as soon as things could be made ready for a 
grand wedding, Philip married the princess, and they 
lived happily the rest of their days. 


THE ENVIOUS NEIGHBOR 


T HERE was a poor man in a tropical country 
who for many long years dwelt in a city 
where he suffered great privations and 
often went hungry. At last he left the city and built 
a hut far out in the country on the edge of the wilder- 
ness and dug up a piece of ground for a garden. He 
depended on this garden to furnish him a living, and 
he planted some corn and melon seeds, which soon 
sent green sprouts up to the light. He took the 
best of care of the growing melons and corn, and they 
throve luxuriantly. 

When the crops began to mature, the monkeys 
from the neighboring wilderness observed the good 
things that were ripening in the garden, and they 
came daily to eat of them. The man, thinking of 
his own past privations and sufferings, willingly 
shared the product of his labor with them; and 
they wondered greatly what manner of person 
he was that permitted them to eat unmolested of 
his corn and melons. 


THE ENVIOUS NEIGHBOR 


73 


One day the man lay down in the garden and fell 
asleep. By and by he became aware of the arrival 
of a troop of monkeys, but he continued to lie there 
as if still sound asleep. They saw him and drew near 
and cried out with one accord: “ He is dead! Our 
good friend is dead! Lo, these many days we have 
eaten of the things growing in his garden. Therefore 
it is only just that we should bury him in as choice 
a place as we can find.” 

The man heard what they said, but he did not 
open his eyes or stir, for he was curious to find out 
what they would do. They lifted him and carried 
him till they came to a place where two ways met. 
Then one of the monkeys said, “ Let us take him to 
the cave of silver.” 

Another said, “ No, the cave of gold would be 
better.” 

“ Go to the cave of gold,” commanded the head 
monkey. 

There they carried him and left him. When he 
found himself alone, he arose, gathered all the 
gold he could carry, and returned to his home. 
This gold, thus easily gained, enabled him to 
build a beautiful house, and to live in great com- 
fort. 

“ How did you, who came here so poor, gain all 


THE ENVIOUS NEIGHBOR 


74 

this wealth? ” asked a neighbor; and the man freely 
told all that had befallen him. 



“ What you have done I can do, too,” said the 
neighbor, and he hastened home, planted a piece 
of ground with corn and melons, and waited for the 
monkeys to feast there. 


THE ENVIOUS NEIGHBOR 


75 


Everything came to pass as he had hoped. When 
the corn and melons ripened, great numbers of 
monkeys visited the garden and feasted. One day 
they found the owner lying in the garden apparently 
dead. Their gratitude prompted them to give him a 
worthy burial, and they carried him to the place 
where the two roads met. Here they disputed as 
to whether they should place the man in the cave 
of silver or the cave of gold. 

Meanwhile the man was thinking: “ As soon as 
I am alone in the cave I will begin gathering up the 
gold, and I will make a basket of bamboo so I can 
carry home a much larger amount than my neighbor 
brought away.” 

Presently the head monkey said, “ Put him in 
the cave of silver.” 

That was such a disappointment to the man that 
he forgot he was supposed to be dead, and he ex- 
claimed, “ No, put me in the cave of gold! ” 

At once the monkeys dropped him and fled in 
great fright, and the man, bruised and disappointed, 
crept sorrowfully home. 


BLUEBEARD 


O NCE upon a time there was a man who lived 
in a splendid house, and had dishes of gold 
and silver, chairs and sofas covered with 
flowered satin, and curtains of the richest silk. But 
alas! this man was so unlucky as to have a blue beard, 
which made him look so frightfully ugly that all the 
women and girls ran away from him. 

His nearest neighbor was a lady of quality who had 
two beautiful daughters, and he wished to marry one 
of them. He was even willing to let the lady decide 
which of the two it should be. Neither of the daugh- 
ters, however, would have him, and the lady sighed 
to think of her children’s obstinacy in refusing to be- 
come the mistress of such a magnificent mansion. 
But the|| were not able to make up their minds to 
marry a man with a blue beard. Their aversion was 
increased by the fact that he had already had several 
wives, and no one knew surely what had become of 
them, though he made all sorts of excuses to account 
for their disappearance. 


BLUEBEARD 


77 

At length Bluebeard, in order to cure the dislike 
of the lady’s daughters, invited them and their 
mother and some young friends to spend a whole 
week at his house. They came, and nothing was 
thought of but parties for hunting and fishing, 
feasting, dancing, and music. The guests were loaded 
with gifts of the most costly description and were so 
delightfully entertained that before many days had 
passed, Fatima, the youngest sister, began to im- 
agine that the beard she had thought to be so ugly 
was not so very blue after all. By the end of the 
week the ‘kindness and politeness of her host had 
made such an impression that she concluded it 
would be a pity to refuse to become his wife on ac- 
count of the trifling circumstance of his having a 
blue beard. 

So they were married shortly afterward, and at 
first everything went well. A month passed away, 
and one morning Bluebeard told Fatima that he must 
go on a journey which would take him six weeks at 
least. He kissed her affectionately, gave her the 
keys of the whole mansion, and bade her amuse 
herself in any way she pleased while he was gone. 

“ But,” said he, “ I would have you notice among 
the keys the small one of polished steel. It unlocks 
the little room at the end of the long corridor. Go 


BLUEBEARD 


78 

where you will, and do what you choose, but re- 
member I have forbidden you to enter that one 
room.” 

Fatima promised faithfully to obey his orders, 
and she watched him get into his carriage, and stood 
at the door of the mansion waving her hand to him 
as he drove away. Lest she should be lonesome 
during her husband’s absence, she invited numerous 
guests to keep her company. Most of them had not 
dared to venture into the house while Bluebeard 
was there, and they came without any urging or 
delay, eager to see its splendors. They ran about 
upstairs and downstairs, peeping into the closets 
and wardrobes, admiring the rooms, and exclaiming 
over the beauties of the tapestries, sofas, cabinets, 
and tables, and of the mirrors in which they could 
see themselves from head to foot. With one consent 
they praised what they saw, and envied the fortune 
of their friend, the mistress of all this magnificence. 
She went about unlocking the doors for their con- 
venience until the only door that remained untouched 
was that of the obscure room at the end of the long' 
corridor. She wondered why she had been forbidden 
to enter that room. What was there in it? Even if 
she did go in, her husband need never know she had 
done so. The more she thought about it the more 


BLUEBEARD 


79 

curious she became. At last she left her guests 
and hurried along the dark, narrow corridor that led 
to the forbidden room. At the door she hesitated, 
recalling her husband’s command, and fearful of 
his anger; but the temptation was too strong, and 
she tremblingly opened the door. 

At first she could see nothing because the window- 
shutters were closed; but after a few moments she 
began to discern that on the floor lay the bodies of 
all the wives Bluebeard had married. She uttered 
a cry of horror, her strength left her, and she thought 
she would die from fear. The key of the room fell 
from her hand, but she picked it up, hastily re- 
treated to the corridor, and locked the door. How- 
ever, she could not forget what she had seen, and 
when she returned to her guests her mind was too 
disturbed for her to attend to their comfort or to 
attempt to entertain them. One by one they bade 
their hostess good-by and went home, until no one 
was left with her except her sister Anne. 

Then Fatima noticed a spot of blood on the key 
of the fatal room. She tried to wipe it off, but the 
spot remained. Then she washed the key with soap 
and scoured it with sand, but her efforts were in 
vain, for it was a magic key, and only Bluebeard 
himself had the power to remove the stain. She 


8o 


BLUEBEARD 


decided not to put it with the other keys, but to 
hide it, hoping her husband would not miss it. 

Bluebeard returned unexpectedly that very eve- 
ning. He said a horseman had met him on the road 
and told him that the business which had taken him 
from home had been satisfactorily settled, so there 
was no need of his making the long journey. 

Fatima tried to welcome her husband with every 
appearance of pleasure, but all the time she was 
dreading the moment when he should ask for the 
keys. This he did not do until the following morning, 
and then she gave them to him with such a blanched 
face and shaking hand that he easily guessed what 
had happened. “ How is it that you have not brought 
me the key of the little room ? ” he asked sternly. 

“ I must have left it on my table upstairs,” she 
faltered. 

“ Bring it to me at once,” said Bluebeard, and 
she was forced to go and make a pretense of search- 
ing for it. 

When she dared delay no longer she went to her 
husband and surrendered the key, and he immediately 
demanded the cause of the stain on it. She hesitated, 
at a loss what reply to make, and he shouted: “ But 
why need I ask? I know the meaning of it right well. 
You have disobeyed my commands and have been 


BLUEBEARD 


8 1 


into the room I ordered you not to enter. So you shall 
go in again, madam, but you will never return. 
You shall take your place among the ladies you saw 
there.” 

Fatima fell on her knees at his feet weeping and 
begging for mercy, but the cruel man had a heart like 
a stone, and he bade her prepare for death. “ Since 
I must die,” said she, “ at least grant me a little 
time to say my prayers.” 

“ I give you ten minutes,” said Bluebeard, “ and 
not one moment more.” 

Poor Fatima hastened to a little turret chamber 
whither her sister had fled in terror and grief. 
“ Sister Anne,” she said, “ go up to the top of the 
tower and see if our brothers are coming. They 
promised to visit me today; and if they should be 
in sight beckon them to come quickly.” 

So the sister climbed the narrow staircase that 
led to the top of the tower, and no sooner was she 
there than Fatima called from below, “ Anne, sister 
Anne, do you see anyone coming? ” 

Anne replied sadly, “ I see nothing but the sun 
shining and the grass growing tall and green.” 

Several times Fatima asked the same question and 
received the same answer. 

Meanwhile Bluebeard was waiting with a might/ 


82 BLUEBEARD 

cimeter in one hand and his watch in the other. At 
length he shouted in a great voice, “ Come down, or 
I shall go up and fetch you.” 

“ Anne, sister Anne,” Fatima called softly, “ look 
again. Is there no one on the road? ” 

“ I see a cloud of dust rising in the distance,” 
Anne answered. 

“ Perchance it is our brothers,” said Fatima. 

“ Alas! no, my dear sister,” responded Anne, “ it 
is only a flock of sheep.” 

“ Fatima!” roared Bluebeard, “ I command you 
to come down.” 

“ One moment - — just one moment more,” sobbed 
the wretched wife. 

Then she called, “ Anne, sister Anne, do you see 
anyone coming? ” 

“ I see two horsemen riding in this direction,” said 
Anne, “ but they are a great way off.” 

“ Heaven be praised! ” exclaimed Fatima. “ They 
must be our brothers. Oh! sign to them to hasten.” 

By this time the enraged Bluebeard was howling 
so loud for his wife to come down that his voice 
shook the whole castle. Fatima dared delay no 
longer, and she descended to the great hall, threw 
herself at her wicked husband’s feet, and once more 
begged him to spare her life. 


BLUEBEARD 83 

“ Silence! ” cried Bluebeard. “ Your entreaties 
are wasted. You shall die! ” 

He seized her hair and raised his cimeter to strike. 
At that moment a loud knocking was heard at the- 
gates. Bluebeard paused with a look of alarm, and 
and then the door of the hall was flung open and 
Fatima’s two brothers appeared with swords ready 
drawn in their hands. They rushed at Bluebeard, 
and one rescued his sister from her husband’s grasp, 
and the other gave the wretch a sword-thrust that 
put an end to his life. 

So the wicked Bluebeard perished miserably, and 
Fatima became mistress of all his riches. Part of 
her wealth she bestowed on her sister Anne, and 
part on her two brothers. The rest she retained her- 
self, and presently she married a man whose kind 
treatment helped her to forget her unfortunate ex- 
perience with Bluebeard. 


THE SPENDTHRIFT 
MERCHANT’S SON 


T HERE was once a merchant’s son, who, 
when his father died, squandered all his 
inheritance. At last he had nothing to eat. 
So he took a spade, went to the market-place, and 
stood waiting to see if anyone would hire him for 
a laborer. By and by a rich noble drove into the 
market-place in his golden coach. As soon as the men 
who were waiting there for work saw him, all except 
the merchant’s son scattered in every direction and 
hid. The gilded coach came to a stop before him, 
and the noble said, “ Do you want work, young man?” 

“ It is for no other purpose than to get work that 
I stand here,” replied the merchant’s son. 

“ Then I will hire you,” said the noble. “ What 
wages do you require? ” 

“ One hundred silver pieces a day,” was the 
answer. 

“ That is a high price,” said the noble. 

“ If you think it too much,” said the merchant’s 


THE SPENDTHRIFT MERCHANT’S SON 85 

son, “ go and find a cheaper article. But I observe 
that you are not very popular as an employer. 
Crowds of laborers seeking work were here a few 
minutes ago, but you came, and away they all 
bolted.” 

“ Well,” said the noble, “ I agree to pay your 
price. Meet me at the harbor tomorrow.” 

Early the next day the youth resorted to the har- 
bor, where he found the noble awaiting him. They 
went on board a ship, which soon put out to sea, 
and sailed and sailed until it approached an island. 
On this island were high mountains, and by the shore 
was a splendid castle. The ship cast anchor, and the 
noble and the merchant’s son were rowed to the 
castle, where they were met by the noble’s wife and 
daughter. After the greetings were over they sat 
down at table and began to eat, drink, and be 
merry. “ Today we’ll feast,” said the noble, “ and 
tomorrow we’ll work.” 

The noble’s daughter was beautiful beyond any- 
thing that pen can tell, and the merchant’s son 
fell in love with her. Nor could she help liking 
him, for he was lively, sturdy, and handsome. 
At length she found an opportunity to call him 
secretly into an adjacent room, and gave him a 
flint and steel. “ Use these, if you should be in 


86 THE SPENDTHRIFT MERCHANT’S SON 


great danger,” said she, “ and they will bring you 
help.” 

Next day the noble mounted a handsome steed 
and had his laborer mount an old rackabones, and 
they set off for the mountains. They went up and 
up till there rose before them a smooth wall of rock 
near the summit of the loftiest peak, and they could 
go no farther. “ I am thirsty after all this climbing,” 
said the noble. “ We will dismount and have some- 
thing to drink.” 

He handed the merchant’s son a flask that con- 
tained a sleeping potion, and the youth drank with- 
out any suspicion that he was being drugged. It 
made him very drowsy, and he sat down by a tree and 
was soon fast asleep. Then the noble killed the 
wretched nag on which the youth had ridden, re- 
moved its entrails, put the young man and his spade 
inside of the body, and sewed it up. That done, he 
went and hid in the bushes. In a little while there 
flew down a host of black, iron-beaked crows. They 
took up the carcass and carried it to the mountain- 
top, where they began to peck and eat it. Pres- 
ently they had eaten their way in to where lay 
the merchant’s son. Then he awoke, beat off the 
crows, looked hither and thither, and said, “ Where 
ami?” 


THE SPENDTHRIFT MERCHANT’S SON 87 

The noble at the foot of the precipice heard him 
and shouted: “ You are on the golden mountain. 
Take your spade and dig gold and throw it down to 
me.” 

Then the youth saw that the whole mountain-top 
was composed of gold, and he dug and dug, and 
threw the gold down to the noble, who loaded it on to 
his horse. When the noble had all the horse could 
carry, he bawled out: “That’ll do. Thanks for 
your labor. Good-by! ” 

“ But what is to become of me? ” the merchant’s 
son shouted back. 

“ You will have to get along as best you can,” 
replied the noble. “ Ninety-nine of your sort have 
already perished on this mountain-top. You will 
just make up a hundred.” 

Thus spoke the noble and departed. 

“ What is to be done now? ” thought the mer- 
chant’s son. “ To get down the steep, slippery sides 
of this mountain summit is impossible. I shall 
starve to death.” 

There he stood on the bleak height, and above him 
circled the iron-beaked crows, which evidently re- 
garded him as their prey. He recalled the events 
that led to his being in his present plight, and it 
occurred to him how the lovely damsel had given 


88 THE SPENDTHRIFT MERCHANT’S SON 


him the flint and steel he had in his pocket. “ She 
told me to use them if ever I was in great danger,” 
said he. “ I will try them now.” 

He took them out and struck a spark from the flint 
with the steel. Immediately there appeared before 
him two stout young men. “ What do you want? ” 
they asked. 

“ I will first fill my pockets with gold,” said he, 
“ and then I would like to go from this mountain to 
the seashore.” 

As soon as he was ready’ they lifted him and carried 
him away through the air to the seashore. Then 
they vanished. While he was walking about there he 
saw a ship not far distant sailing by the island. “ Ho! 
good ship-folk! ” he shouted, “ take me with you.” 

“ No, brother,” they responded, “ to stop would 
cause us to lose too much time.” 

The mariners went on, but soon contrary winds 
began to blow, and they were presently beset by a 
hurricane. '“Alas! ” said they, “the person who 
hailed us from that island was no ordinary man. He 
has brought this storm on us for a punishment, and 
we shall perish unless we return and take him on the 
ship.” 

So they went back and got him and conveyed him 
to his native town. The gold he had brought from 


THE SPENDTHRIFT MERCHANT’S SON 89 

the mountain supported him for a time, but when 
it was gone he again took a spade and went to 
the market-place to wait for some one to hire him. 



By and by the same noble who had hired him before 
came to the market-place in his gilded coach. The 
men waiting for employment all scattered in every 


90 THE SPENDTHRIFT MERCHANT’S SON 

direction and hid, except the merchant’s son. The 
noble spoke to him and said, “ Will you come and 
work for me ? ” 

“ Willingly,” replied the youth, “ if you will pay 
me two hundred pieces of silver a day.” 

“ Isn’t that rather dear, eh?” said the noble. 

“ If you find it deaj,” said the merchant’s son, 
“ go and hire some other man. But you saw how 
many people were waiting here for work when you 
came, and in what haste they all got out of the way.” 

“ Very well,” said the noble, “ meet me tomorrow 
morning at the harbor.” 

Early next day they met at the harbor, went on 
board a ship, and sailed to the island. There they 
ate and drank and took their ease for one day, and on 
the following morning mounted horses and rode up 
into the mountains. They arrived at the steep wall 
of rock near the summit of the highest peak, and the 
noble said, “ Now let us have a drink.” 

“ But first,” said the youth, “ you who are chief 
must drink. Let me treat you with what I have 
brought in my own flask.” 

So the noble drank, but the merchant’s son had 
betimes filled his flask with a sleeping potion that 
put his master into a sound sleep. Then he killed 
the lame old horse he rode, removed the entrails, 


THE SPENDTHRIFT MERCHANT’S SON 91 

thrust the noble and the spade into the body and 
sewed him up in there. Afterward he hid in the 
bushes. Soon the black, iron-beaked crows flew 
down, took up the carcass of the horse, carried it to 
the top of the cliff, and began pecking at it. When 
they had made an opening to where the noble lay, 
he awoke, crawled out, and looked around. “ Where 
am I? ” said he. 

“ You are on the golden mountain,” bawled the 
merchant’s son. “ Take your spade and dig gold 
and throw it down to me.” 

The noble dug and dug, and threw down the 
gold, and the youth packed it on to the noble’s horse 
until he had all the creature could carry. “ That’s 
enough,” he called. “ Thanks for your labor. 
Adieu!” 

“ But how am I to get off this mountain? ” cried 
the noble. 

“ Why, get off as best you can,” answered the 
youth. “ Ninety-nine of your sort have perished 
on that golden summit. You can be the hundredth.” 

The merchant’s son returned to the splendid castle 
beside the sea, married the lovely damsel, took pos- 
session of the noble’s riches, and then went in a ship 
to his native city. There he dwelt in peace and plenty 
the rest of his life. 


THE AMBITIOUS THRUSH 


O NCE there was a thrush who lived in a tree 
on the borders of a field that a man sowed to 
cotton seed. The seed sprouted up through 
the ground and grew into bushes, and after a time 
the bushes had big, brown pods on them. Presently 
the pods burst open and the fluffy white cotton 
bulged out of them. “ How nice and soft that cotton 
looks! ” said the thrush. 

She picked some of it and used it to line her nest. 
Never before had she slept with such ease as she 
did on that bed of cotton. 

In her flights about the region she often passed 
the door of a man who made a business of carding 
cotton so it could be spun into thread. By carding 
it he disentangled the fibers, and then he formed it 
into small tolls and sold it to the spinners. The 
thrush often observed him at his work, and at length 
she concluded that she, also, would make some use 
of the cotton besides simply lining her nest with it. 
So again and again, every day, she would fly down 


THE AMBITIOUS THRUSH 


93 


among the cotton bushes, pluck out a fluff of cotton 
in her beak and fly away and hide it. She kept on 
doing this till she had quite a large heap. Then she 
flew to the house of the cotton-carder, and alighted 
in front of him. “ Good day, man,” said she. 

“ Good day, little bird,” said the cotton-carder. 

“ Man,” said the thrush, “ I have a heap of beau- 
tiful cotton; and you shall have half of it if you will 
card the rest and make it into rolls for me.” 

“ Very well,” said the man, “ I will do as you 
desire. Where is your cotton? ” 

“ Come with me, and I will show you,” said the 
thrush. 

So she flew along ahead of the man and guided him 
to the place where she had hidden her hoard of 
cotton. The man took the cotton home and carded 
it and made it into rolls. Half of it he took for 
doing the work, and the rest he gave back to the 
thrush. 

Not far from the carder lived a spinner, and the 
thrush went to him and said: “ Mr. Spinner, I have 
some rolls of cotton all ready to spin into thread. 
If I give you half of them, will you spin the other 
half into thread for me? ” 

“ That I will,” said the spinner, and the thrush 
showed him the way to where she had put the rolls. 


94 


THE AMBITIOUS THRUSH 


In a few days the spinner had spun all the rolls 
into the finest thread. Then he took a pair of scales 
and weighed the thread to make two equal parts. 
Half he kept for himself, and the other half he gave 
to the thrush. 

The next thing the thrush did was to fly to the 
house of a weaver, to whom she said: “ Sir, I have 
some cotton thread all ready to weave into cloth. 
If I give you half of the thread, will you weave the 
other half into doth for me? ” 

“ Certainly,” said the weaver, and the thrush 
guided him to where she had secreted the thread. 

He carried it home and spun it into cloth, and half 
the cloth he kept, and half he gave to the thrush. She 
was an ambitious bird, eager to convey an impression 
of distinction, and she decided to have some garments 
made for herself out of the cloth. So she went to a 
tailor, and said, “ I have a nice piece of cotton cloth, 
and I will give you half of it if you will make the 
rest into clothes for me.” 

The tailor was glad to do this, and the bird guided 
him to where she had hidden the cloth. He took 
it home, and at once set to work. Half of it sufficed 
to make a beautiful dress for the thrush. There was 
a skirt, and there was a jacket with sleeves in the 
latest pattern. A little of the cloth was left over, 


THE AMBITIOUS THRUSH 


95 

and the tailor used it to make a pretty hat for the 
thrush to put on her head. 

Then she was indeed delighted, and felt there was 
little more to desire in the world. She put on her 
skirt, and her jacket with fashionable sleeves, and 



the little hat, and looked at her image in a woodland 
pool. What she saw pleased her greatly. In fact, 
she became so vain that nothing would do but she 
must show herself to the king. 

So she flew and flew and flew until she came to 
the king’s palace. Right into the great hall she 


THE AMBITIOUS THRUSH 


96 

winged her way and perched on a peg that was high 
on the wall and began to sing. The king and the 
queen and all the courtiers were sitting down below. 
“ Oh, look! ” exclaimed the queen. “ There is a 
thrush in a jacket and skirt and a pretty hat! ” 

Everybody looked at the thrush singing on her 
peg, and clapped their hands. 

“ Come here, little bird,” said the king, “ and 
show the queen your pretty clothes.” 

The thrush felt highly flattered, and flew down on 
the table, and took off her jacket to show the queen. 
After the queen had looked at it she folded it up and 
put it in her pocket. 

“ Give me my jacket,” twittered the thrush. “ I 
shall catch cold, and besides, it is not proper for a 
lady to go about without a jacket.” 

All the company laughed, and the king said, 
“ You shall have your jacket, Mistress Thrush, if 
you will come nearer.” 

She approached the king close enough so he was 
able to make a sudden grab and catch her. 

“ Let me go,” squeaked the thrush, struggling to 
get free. But the king would not release her. 

“ Greedy king! ” cried the thrush, “ you ought to 
be ashamed to covet my little jacket! ” 

That made the king angry, and he took a carving 


THE AMBITIOUS THRUSH 


97 


knife and chopped her to little bits. While he was 
doing so the thrush kept exclaiming, “ The king 
snips and cuts like a tailor, but he is not so honest! ” 

When the king had finished chopping her up, 
he began to wash the pieces, and each piece as he 
washed it called out, “ The king scours and scrubs 
like a washerwoman, but he is not so honest! ” 

As soon as the washing was done he put the pieces 
into a frying-pan and began to fry them, and all the 
time they cried out, “ The king is doing the work of 
a cook, but he is not so honest! ” 

After the pieces were fried, the king ate them, 
but even that did not silence the wronged thrush. 
She continually shouted : “ I am inside of the king. It 
is just like the inside of any other man, only not so 
honest! ” 

The king was like a walking musical box, and he 
did not like it, but it was his own fault. No matter 
where he went, everyone heard the cries of the thrush 
proclaiming that she was inside of the king, and that 
his inside was just like that of other men, only not 
so honest. This caused a good deal of gossip among 
the king’s subjects and resulted in his being univer- 
sally despised. At last he could stand it no longer. 
He sent for his doctor and said the talking bird must 
be removed. 


THE AMBITIOUS THRUSH 


98 

“ That cannot be done without causing your 
death,” said the doctor. 

“ It will cause my death if it is not done,” declared 
the king, “ for I cannot endure being made a fool of.” 

So the doctor had to remove the thrush, and, 
strange to say, the pieces had united, and as soon 
as the bird was released she flew away. Her beau- 
tiful clothes were all gone, but she did not regret 
that. She was quite content in future to use cot- 
ton only to make a soft lining for her nest, and 
never again had a desire to ape the ways of mankind. 

As for the king, he died; and it was a good riddance. 
His son reigned in his stead, and he remembered his 
father’s miserable death and kept all his promises to 
men and beasts and birds. 


THE BEWITCHED BOTTLES 


I N the good old days, when the fairies were more 
frequently seen than in these unbelieving times, 
a farmer named Mick Purcell rented a few 
acres of barren ground in southern Ireland, about 
three miles from Mallow, and twelve from the city 
of Cork. Mick had a wife and children, and they 
helped him all they could. That, however, was very 
little; for none of the children were big enough to do 
much work, and his wife was kept busy taking care 
of them, and milking the cow, boiling the potatoes, 
and carrying the eggs to market. So, though Mick 
was never idle from morn till night, it was by no 
means easy for them to make a living. Yet by hook 
or by crook they contrived to get along until there 
came a bad year. The oats were all spoiled that 
season, the chickens died of the pip, and the pig 
got the measles so that when it was sold it brought 
almost nothing. 

Mick was in despair. The rent had long been due, 
and he addressed his wife, saying, “ Molly, what shall 
we do? ” 


IOO 


THE BEWITCHED BOTTLES 


“ My dear,” said she, “ what can you do but take 
the cow to the fair at Cork and sell her? Saturday 
is fair day, and this is Thursday. You must start 
tomorrow, that the poor beast may have a night’s 
rest there and be at her best when you show her at 
the fair.” 

44 And what will we do when she’s gone? ” asked 
Mick sorrowfully. 

“ Never a know I know, Mick,” she replied; “ but 
sure I am that we will be taken care of. You remem- 
ber how it was when little Billy was sick, and we had 
no medicine for him to take — that good doctor 
gentleman at Ballyshin came riding and asking for 
a drink of milk; and he gave us two shillings and 
sent things for Billy, and he gave me my breakfast 
when I went to his house to ask a question — so he 
did. He came to see Billy again and again, and 
never left off his goodness till the boy was quite 
well.” 

44 Oh! you are always that way, Molly,” said Mick; 
44 and I believe you are right, after all. So I won’t 
be sorry for selling the cow, and I’ll take her to Cork 
tomorrow. But before I go you must put a needle 
and thread through my coat, for you know ’tis 
ripped under the arm.” 

Molly told him he should have everything right; 


THE BEWITCHED BOTTLES 


ioi 


and about twelve o’clock next day he started, while 
Molly stood in the doorway of their cabin and called 
after him not to sell the cow except at the highest 
price. Mick promised to do as she bid, and went 
his way along the road. As he drove his cow through 
the little stream that crosses the highway and runs 
on beside the old walls of Mourne Abbey he glanced 
toward the ruinous towers. 

“ I’ve often heard there is great treasure buried 
under you,” said he. “ Oh ! if I only had that money, 
it isn’t driving this cow I’d be now. What a pity 
such a treasure should be there covered over with 
earth, and many a one wanting it besides me! Well, 
if it be God’s will I’ll have some money myself when 
I am coming back.” 

So saying, he moved on after his beast. It was 
a fine day, and the sun shone brightly on the walls 
of the old abbey, and all the country around looked 
green and pleasant. Six miles farther on he came to 
the top of a high hill, and just there a man overtook 
him and greeted him with a “ Good morrow.” 

“ Good morrow kindly,” said Mick, looking at 
the stranger, who was such a little man that he might 
almost be called a dwarf. He had a wrinkled, yellow 
face, and a sharp nose, red eyes, and white hair; 
and he was muffled up in a big overcoat that came 


102 


THE BEWITCHED BOTTLES 


down to his heels. His eyes were never quiet, but 
looked at everything, and they made Mick feel 
quite cold when he met their glance. In truth, he did 
not much like the little man’s company, and he drove 
his cow on faster, but the stranger kept up with him. 
It seemed to Mick that his fellow-traveler did not 
walk like other men, and that instead of putting 
one foot before the other he glided over the rough 
road like a shadow, without noise and without 
effort. Mick’s heart trembled within him, and he 
said a prayer to himself, wishing he had not come 
that day, or that he did not have the cow to take 
care of, so he might run away from the mysterious 
stranger. In the midst of his fears he was again 
addressed by his companion, who asked him where 
he was going with his cow. 

“ To the fair at Cork,” replied Mick, trembling 
at the shrill and piercing tones of the stranger’s 
voice. 

“Are you going to sell her?” inquired the little 
man. 

“ Why, for what else could I be taking her to the 
fair? ” was Mick’s response. 

“Will you sell her to me?” said the stranger. 

Mick started — he was afraid to have anything to 
do with the little man; and yet he was more afraid 


THE BEWITCHED BOTTLES 


103 

to say, “ No.” He hesitated, and then asked, 
“ What will you give for her? ” 

“ I’ll give you this bottle,” answered the little 
man, pulling a bottle from under his coat. 

Mick looked at him and the bottle, and, in spite 
of his terror, could not help laughing. 

“ Laugh if you will,” said the little man, “ but 
I tell you this bottle is worth more to you than all 
the money you can get for your cow in Cork — aye, 
a thousand times over.” 

Mick laughed again. “ Why,” said he, “ do you 
think I am such a fool as to give my good cow 
for a bottle — and an empty one, too? Indeed, I 
won’t.” 

“ You had better give me the cow and take the 
bottle,” said the little man. “ You’ll be sorry if you 
don’t.” 

“ But what would Molly say? ” muttered Mick. 
“ I’d never hear the end of it; and how would I 
pay the rent, and what would we all do without a 
penny of money? ” 

“ This bottle of mine is better to you than money,” 
the little man affirmed. “ Take it, and give me the 
cow. I ask you for the last time, Mick Purcell.” 

“ How does he know my name? ” thought Mick, 
with increased alarm. 


104 


THE BEWITCHED BOTTLES 


“ I have a regard for you, Mick Purcell,” the 
stranger continued. “ Therefore do I warn you that 
unless you make the exchange I have proposed you 
will be sorry for it. How do you know but your cow 
may die before you get to Cork? ” 

“ God forbid! ” exclaimed Mick. 

“ And how do you know,” the little man went on, 
“ buc there will be so many cattle at the fair you will 
get a poor price? Or you might be robbed when you 
are coming home. But why need I talk more to you 
when you are determined to throw away your luck? ” 

“ Oh, no! I would not throw away my luck, sir,” 
Mick affirmed hastily; “ and if I was sure the bottle 
was as good as you say, though I never liked an 
empty bottle, I’d give you the cow for it.” 

“ I would not tell you a lie,” declared the stranger. 
“ Here, take the bottle, and when you get home do 
what I direct, exactly.” 

Mick hesitated. 

“ Well, then,” said the little man sharply, 
“ good-by, I can stay no longer. Take the bottle and 
be rich; or refuse it, and beg for your living, and see 
your children in poverty and your wife dying of 
want. That is what will happen to you, Mick 
Purcell! ” and the little man grinned maliciously. 

“ Maybe ’tis true,” said Mick, still hesitating. He 


THE BEWITCHED BOTTLES 


105 

did not know what to do; and yet he could hardly 
help believing the old man. The latter was turning 
to go when Mick in a fit of desperation seized the 
bottle. “ Take the cow/’ said he, “ and if you 
are telling a lie, the curse of the poor will be on 
you.” 

“ I care neither for your curses, nor for your bless- 
ings,” retorted the little man. “ I have spoken the 
truth, Mick Purcell, as you will surely know tonight 
after you reach home, if you do what I tell you.” 

“ And what’s that? ” inquired Mick. 

“ When you go into the house,” said the little 
man, “ never mind if your wife is angry over the 
bargain you have made. Be quiet yourself, and get 
her to sweep the room, and to clear off the table 
and spread a clean cloth over it. Then put the 
bottle on the floor, saying these words, ‘ Bottle, 
do your duty,’ and you will see what will happen.” 

“ Is that all? ” asked Mick. 

“ No more,” was the stranger’s answer. “ Fare- 
well, Mick Purcell. You are a rich man.” 

“ God grant it! ” said Mick, as the stranger went 
off driving the cow. 

Mick now started toward home, but he had gone 
only a few paces when he turned to have one more 
look at the purchaser of his cow. To his surprise 


106 THE BEWITCHED BOTTLES 

neither the little man nor the cow were to be seen. 
“ The Lord be between us and him!” exclaimed 
Mick. “ That little man can’t belong to this earth; ” 
and Mick continued on his way muttering prayers 
and holding fast the bottle. 

“ What would I do if it broke?” thought he; 
“ but I’ll look out for that.” 

So he put the bottle into his bosom and hurried 
on, anxious to prove the virtues of his treasure, and 
at the same time a good deal troubled over the recep- 
tion he was likely to meet from his wife. He reached 
home in the evening, still much perturbed between 
his doubts and hopes, and surprised his wife sitting 
beside a turf fire burning in the big fireplace. 

“ Oh, Mick! are you come back? ” she cried. 
“ Sure, you haven’t been all the way to Cork! 
What has happened to you? Where is the cow? 
Did you sell her? How much money did you get 
for her? What is the news? ” 

“ Molly,” said he, “ if you’ll give me time, I’ll 
tell you all that’s happened. But I can’t tell you 
where the cow is.” 

“ You sold her on the way, did you? ” said Molly; 
“ and where’s the money? How is — ” 

“Arrah! stop a while, Molly,” he interrupted, 
“ and I’ll tell you all about it.” 


THE BEWITCHED BOTTLES 


107 

“ What bottle is that under your waistcoat? ” 
she asked, spying the neck of it sticking out. 

“ Be easy, can’t you! ” begged Mick, and he put 
the bottle on the table and said, “ That’s what I got 
for the cow.” 

His wife was thunderstruck. “A bottle!” she 
ejaculated, “ an empty bottle, and nothing more?” 

“ Just an empty bottle,” Mick replied. “ But — ” 

“ And what good is it? ” said Molly. “ Oh, Mick ! 
I never thought you were such a fool; and how will 
we pay the rent? and how — ” 

“ Now, Molly,” said Mick, “ can’t you stop a bit 
and hearken to reason? An old man overtook me on 
the big hill, half-way to Cork, and he made me sell 
him the cow, and said this bottle which he gave me 
in exchange would make me rich.” 

“ Make you rich! ” cried Molly. “ We’ll see what 
it will do for you,” and she snatched it up from the 
table, intending to break it over his head. 

But Mick caught it before it had time to descend, 
and, recalling the old man’s advice to keep peaceable, 
he gently loosened his wife’s grasp, and placed the 
bottle again in his bosom. Molly sat down and wept 
while Mick told her his story with many a crossing 
and blessing between him and harm. The marvel 
of it caused his wife’s doubts to vanish, for she had 


108 THE BEWITCHED BOTTLES 

as much faith in fairies as she had in the priest, who 
indeed never discouraged her belief in them — maybe 
he believed in them himself. She got up and began 
to sweep the earthen floor with a bunch of heath. 
That done, she tidied up everything, set out the 
long table, and spread a clean cloth on it. Mick 
then placed the bottle on the floor and said, “ Bottle, 
do your duty.” 

“ Look there! look there, mammy!” exclaimed 
the chubby eldest son, a boy about six years old; 
and he sprang to his mother’s side and clung to her 
skirts in terror with his eyes on the bottle. 

Two tiny men were climbing out of it, and in a 
few moments they had brought plates and other 
dishes, all of solid gold or silver, and put them on 
the table, and the dishes contained a bountiful 
feast of the choicest food that ever was seen. As soon 
as this task was finished, the tiny men went into 
the bottle, which Mick then picked up and carefully 
set on the mantel. Where the little men had gone he 
could not tell, for the bottle seemed to be as empty 
as when he first received it. 

For some time Mick and his wife stood and gazed 
at the table in silent bewilderment. They had never 
seen such dishes before and did not think they could 
ever admire them enough. In fact, the sight of all 



Two tiny men climbed out of the bottle 






























* 







































* 






































' 





































































t 









THE BEWITCHED BOTTLES 


hi 


this splendor almost took away their appetites. 
But at length Molly said: “ Come and sit down, 
Mick, and try to eat a bit. Sure, you ought to be 
hungry after such a good day’s work.” 

“ It’s plain the little old man told no lie about the 
bottle,” said Mick; and he helped the children into 
seats around the table. They all made a hearty 
meal, though they could not eat half the food that 
was before them. 

“ Now,” said Molly, “ I wonder if these fine things 
are ours to do as we please with them, or if those two 
good little gentlemen in the bottle will carry them 
away.” 

They waited to see what would happen, but the 
little men remained in the bottle, and at length 
Molly cleared the table and put away the dishes. 
“ Ah, Mick,” said she, “ you’ll be a rich man yet, as 
the stranger who took your cow foretold.” 

Before they went to sleep that night they decided 
that they would sell some of their fine tableware, 
and with the money it brought pay what they owed, 
and rent more land. So the next day Mick went to 
Cork laden with a number of the gold and silver 
dishes, which he sold for more money than he had 
ever had in his hands before. He did not return on 
foot, for he bought a horse and cart so that he was 


112 THE BEWITCHED BOTTLES 

able to ride. In the weeks that followed he increased 
his wealth from time to time by calling forth the 
imps out of the bottle, and it was soon plain to every- 
one that Mick was prospering. He and his wife did 
all they could to keep the source of their good fortune 
a secret, but their landlord presently came to Mick 
and asked him where he got all his money, for he 
knew very well it was not from the farm. 

Mick tried to put him off with excuses. This, 
however, would not do, and the landlord was so 
persistent that finally Mick told him about the bottle. 
The landlord offered Mick a great deal of money for 
it, but Mick continued to refuse until the landlord 
said that in addition to the money he would give 
him the farm he rented. Mick surrendered the 
bottle, feeling that he was now so rich he never would 
be in want again. But he was mistaken, for he and 
his family lived as if there was no end to their fortune. 
They earned little and spent much. Their wealth 
melted away, and at length they became so poor 
they had nothing left which they could sell but one 
cow. 

So Mick prepared to drive the cow to Cork fair 
and dispose of her. It was hardly daybreak when 
he left home, and he walked on at a good pace till he 
reached the big hill midway in his journey. The 


THE BEWITCHED BOTTLES 113 

mists were sleeping in the valleys and curling like 
smoke-wreaths on the brown heath around him. 
Just beside the road, as he was going along, a lark 
sprang from its grassy couch and ascended into the 
clear blue sky pouring forth its joyous matin-song. 
While Mick was watching it he was startled and 
rejoiced to hear the well-remembered voice of that 
same old man who had accosted him here once 
before. “ Well, Mick Purcell,” said the stranger, 
“ I told you that you would be a rich man; and you 
found that I was right, did you not? ” 

“ Indeed, sir, it was the truth you spoke, and no 
mistake,” replied Mick. “ But it’s not rich I am 
now. Have you another bottle? I need it as much 
at present as when I first saw you. So, if you have 
one, sir, here is my cow for it.” 

“ And here is a bottle,” responded the little man, 
taking it from an inside pocket of his coat. “ You 
know what to do with it.” 

“ Sure I do,” said Mick. 

“ Farewell,” said the strange old man as he turned 
to go. 

“ And good-by to you, sir,” said Mick. “ May 
your shadow never grow less. Good-by, sir, 
good-by.” 

Mick wasted no time looking back to see what 


THE BEWITCHED BOTTLES 


114 

became of the little man and the cow, but hastened 
homeward. As soon as he arrived he called out, 
“ Molly, Molly! I have another bottle! ” 

“ Have you ? ” said she, laughing joyfully. “ Why, 
then, you’re a lucky man, Mick Purcell, that’s 
what you are.” 

She quickly put everything in order and set forth 
the table with a clean spread on it. Then Mick 
placed the bottle on the floor, and said, with a tone 
of exultation in his voice, “ Bottle, do your duty.” 

In a twinkling, two big, stout men with heavy 
cudgels issued from the bottle (I do not know 
how there was room for them in it) and belabored 
Mick and Molly and the rest of the family, including 
the dog and the cat, till they sank bruised and faint 
to the floor. This result seemed to satisfy the two 
men, and they returned to the bottle. When Mick 
recovered sufficiently to get on his feet he stood and 
thought and thought. At length he helped up his 
wife and children. But he left them to get over their 
fright as best they could while he took the bottle 
under his coat and went off to call on his landlord. 

The landlord’s mansion was full of company when 
he got there, and they were just sitting down to a 
magnificent feast provided by the imps of the bottle 
which Mick formerly owned. He sent in word by a 


THE BEWITCHED BOTTLES 115 

servant that he wanted to speak with the master of 
the house on urgent business. 

Pretty soon the landlord came out. “ Well, what 
do you want now? ” he asked roughly. 

“ Nothing, sir, only to tell you that I have 
another bottle,” Mick answered. 

“Oho!” said the landlord, softening his manner 
and rubbing his hands together gleefully, “ and is it 
as good as the first? ” 

“ Yes, sir, and better,” declared Mick. “ If you 
like, I will show it to you before all the ladies and 
gentlemen in your dining-hall.” 

“ Come along then,” was the landlord’s response, 
“ and if I’m satisfied with what you show, I will pay 
a good round price for the bottle.” 

He conducted his former tenant into the great 
hall, where Mick was interested to behold the other 
bottle standing high up on a shelf. “ Now,” said 
the landlord, “ let us see what your bottle can do.” 

Mick set it on the floor and said, “ Bottle, do your 
duty.” 

Immediately out came the two stout men with 
their big clubs, and knocked the landlord off his feet. 
Then they assailed the ladies and gentlemen, his 
guests, and the servants, also, and there was running 
and sprawling and kicking and shrieking. Cups and 


n6 THE BEWITCHED BOTTLES 

plates and salvers were scattered about in all direc- 
tions, and the landlord began to call out, “ Mick 
Purcell, stop those two demons, or I’ll have you 
hanged! ” 

“ No, no! ” said Mick, “ they never will be stopped 
by me till I get that bottle I used to own, which I 
see high up on the shelf there.” 

“ Give it to him, give it to him before we are all 
killed! ” beseeched the battered ladies and gentlemen. 

“ Take it, and make haste,” cried the landlord. 

So Mick climbed up and got the bottle that had 
been the source of his former good fortune. By this 
time the men with the cudgels had pounded the 
company to their satisfaction. They retired to their 
bottle, and off went Mick with both bottles in his 
bosom. 

As the years passed he became richer and richer, 
and when, in his old age, his servants broke the 
bottles while lighting at a wake he was careful not 
to squander his riches as he had previously. So he 
and his wife lived happily to the end of their days. 


A PEACE MEETING 


O NCE upon a time there was a big pasture in 
which were kept many horses and cattle 
and pigs. The pigs were very greedy, and 
the horses and cattle were not on good terms with 
them. At last one of the horses said: “ Let us have 
a peace meeting and invite to it all the animals that 
feed in this pasture. Perhaps it will enable us to 
settle our quarrels with the pigs, and establish more 
friendly relations with them.” 

“ Yes,” said a cow, “ I wish we might have 
peace with those pigs. They are always taking our 
food, drinking our water, and rooting up our nice, 
green grass. But it is also true that our own calves 
and colts have hurt many of the young pigs. This 
trouble and fighting are not right, and we know that 
our master wishes us to dwell peaceably together.” 

So it was agreed that there should be a peace 
meeting, and a small and gentle cow was sent to 
invite the pigs to attend. As she approached the 
pigs’ yard, the young pigs jumped up and grunted: 


n8 A PEACE MEETING 

“ What are you coming here for? Do you want to 
fight?” 

“ No, I don’t want to fight,” responded the cow. 
“ I was sent here to invite you to a peace meeting. 
Will you come? ” 

The pigs talked the matter over, and one of the 
old pigs said: “ Maybe they will have some good 
things for us to eat at this meeting. I think we 
should go.” 

That decided them, and they told the cow they 
would be present at the meeting. 

The day for the gathering came, and the pigs were 
among the first at the appointed place. Presently, 
when all was ready, the leader of the cows addressed 
the pigs, saying: “ We think there should be no more 
quarrels in this pasture. Will you agree not to spoil 
our grass or eat our food ? If so, we will promise that 
none of the horses and cows, old or young, shall hurt 
your children, and all the former enmity shall hence- 
forth be forgotten.” 

Then a young pig stood up to reply. “ This big 
pasture,” said he, “ belongs to our master, and 
not to you. We pigs cannot go outside of the fence 
to other places for food. Every day our master sends 
servants to feed us and to clean our pen. In the 
summer they fill a pond with fresh water for us to 


A PEACE MEETING 


119 

bathe in. We take your food only after you have 
finished. It would spoil on the ground if we did not. 
Do our people ever hurt your people? No, and 
yet each year some of our children are killed by bad 
horses and cows. 

“ Is it your belief that our master regards you 



more highly than us? Consider a moment how he 
treats our people, and how he treats you. He never 
makes us work as he does the horses and oxen. No, 
he gives us plenty of food and lets us play and take 
our ease day in and day out the whole year through. 
Surely that is because he likes us best. The horses 
and oxen are at work constantly. Some pull wagons, 


120 


A PEACE MEETING 


others plough the land, and they rarely are given any 
time to rest except at night. 

“ But our life is one of comfort and leisure. Ob- 
serve how fat we are. You never see our bones. 
Look at the old horses and the old oxen, and notice 
how lean they are, and how their ribs show! And 
is it any wonder after twenty years of work and no 
rest? I tell you our master does not honor the horses 
and oxen as he does the pigs. That is all I have to say. 
Have I not spoken the truth ? ” 

The leader of the cows shook her head sadly, 
and said, “ Moo, moo! ” 

The tired old horses groaned, “ Huh, huh! ” 
but could think of no reply to the pig’s argument. 

Then the cow leader said: “ Why should we dis- 
cuss things about which we know nothing? We do 
not seem to understand our master. The meeting 
is ended.” 

On their way home the little pigs made a big noise, 
and each said gleefully, “Wee, wee! We won, we 
won! ” 

The old horses and oxen discussed the subject 
among themselves, but they arrived at no conclusion. 
“ Certainly we are stronger, wiser, and more useful 
than the pigs,” they said. “ Why does our master 
treat us so? ” 


THE SOLDIER AND THE 
DRAGON 


T HERE was once a young soldier who went far 
away from his home to fight in a war. 
When the war was over and he returned, 
his father and mother had died, and no one was left 
in the family but himself. His entire inheritance was 
a cow and two sheep, and these he decided to sell. 
“ Then,” said he, “ I will seek my fortune somewhere 
else, instead of remaining here in poverty.” 

The cow and the sheep were sold, and the soldier 
set out on his travels. After walking for about a 
week, he one day found himself in a great forest, 
and toward night he came to an old castle with 
the woods all around it. The castle door was open, 
and he entered. Not a person was to be seen, but 
on a long table was food enough ready for eating 
to serve a score. The soldier stood a long time si- 
lently waiting in the hope that the dwellers in the 
castle would appear and invite him to eat with them. 
But he waited in vain. The castle seemed to be aban- 


122 THE SOLDIER AND THE DRAGON 


doned, and at last the soldier said: “Upon my 
word, it is a shame to neglect this food any longer. 
I may as well eat. Surely no one will greatly blame 
me for doing so.” 

He seated himself at the t^ble, and though at 
first somewhat anxious, ate and drank with a good 
appetite. By the time he finished, his confidence 
was fully restored, and he went to look through the 
adjoining rooms. In one he found heaps of rich 
merchandise, in another were many bags and boxes 
of gold, silver, and jewels, while in a third the walls 
were half hidden by a great array of guns. 

“ This castle is a robbers’ den,” said the soldier 
when he saw all this, “ and the robbers have gone 
off on some expedition. They will doubtless soon 
return; but since I am here I will take possession 
of this treasure and these guns, and drive the rob- 
bers away.” 

He began to prepare the castle as well as 'he could 
to stand a siege. After barricading the doors and 
windows, he loaded all the guns and sat down to 
wait. Presently he heard the robbers coming, and 
he took his place at a window that commanded the 
approach to the castle. Close at hand he had set 
a large number of guns ready loaded, and he imme- 
diately began to fire. The robbers were vastly 


THE SOLDIER AND THE DRAGON 123 

astonished, and, though there were fully twenty 
of them, they dropped the booty with which they 
were laden and retired to shelter. But they reap- 
peared shortly, and threw themselves against the 
heavy door, raging and swearing. The door, how- 
ever, withstood their battering, and as the soldier 
killed or wounded one of them at every shot, they 
in a short time ran off, carrying the wounded with 
them, and were lost to sight in the forest. 

“ They will be back tomorrow, most likely, with 
reinforcements,” said the soldier, and he strengthened 
his barricades and reloaded the guns he had dis- 
charged. 

It happened as he expected. At dawn the next 
day the robbers again returned with a dozen others 
whom they had summoned to their aid. They yelled, 
and fired their guns, and threw stones, and pounded 
the door with heavy clubs. All the time the sol- 
dier was shooting from his window, and in the end 
every robber was killed. The soldier was now in 
complete possession of the castle and all the treasures 
it contained. He explored it from top to bottom, 
and concluded to make it his home. In the days 
that followed he often went forth into the forest to 
hunt, and the castle and the life he led suited him 
very well. Thus things went on until one day, when 


124 THE SOLDIER AND THE DRAGON 

he was out with his gun, he took aim to shoot a 
fine rabbit. Greatly to his surprise the rabbit spoke, 
saying: “ Do not kill me. I may perhaps be useful 
to you.” 

“ Very well,” said the soldier, “ I will not harm 
you, and you can come with me and be my serv- 
ant.” 

He went on followed by the rabbit, and in a little 
while he saw a bear. He took careful aim and was 
about to shoot, when the bear said, “ Do not kill 
me, and I will make myself useful to you.” 

“ All right,” was the soldier’s response. “ Follow 
me, and we will see in what way you can serve 
me.” 

The soldier at length returned to the castle, and 
the rabbit and bear went with him. That evening, 
as they were in the great hall enjoying the heat of 
the fire in the fireplace, the bear said: “ I heard this 
morning that the daughter of the king is about to be 
taken to a dragon which will devour her. Would it 
not be well for us to go and deliver her? ” 

“ That would be a very perilous undertaking,” 
said the soldier. 

“ Pshaw! ” exclaimed the bear, “ it is not as 
dangerous as you think. I am ready to do my 
part.” 


THE SOLDIER AND THE DRAGON 125 

“ Yes,” said the rabbit, “ and I will do my part. 
All three of us ought to be more than a match for 
one dragon.” 

“ Let us go then,” said the soldier. 

The next morning he armed himself with a stout 
sword, and they started. It was a long distance, 
and when the soldier tired of walking the bear carried 
him on its back. At last they met a procession 
carrying the princess to the dragon. Thousands of 
people were in the procession, and they were all 
weeping. The soldier and his comrades went along 
with the rest to the edge of a big, desolate plain. 
Then the people turned back and left the princess 
to go on alone. The cavern of the dragon was in the 
midst of the plain, and every month a maiden had to 
come to him to be devoured. Otherwise, he would 
have devastated the whole kingdom. The maidens 
were chosen by lot, and this time the lot had fallen 
on the daughter of the king. Abandoned by all the 
world, she went slowly on, wailing and shedding great 
tears. 

Meanwhile the soldier was engaged in buying a 
handsome horse from one of the returning citizens. 
As soon as he had secured it, he galloped after the 
princess with the bear and the rabbit following him. 
When he overtook her he said, “ I pray you, dear 


126 THE SOLDIER AND THE DRAGON 


lady, to mount behind me, and I will carry you 
whither you are going.” 

“ Alas!” she responded, “ I shall get there only 
too soon. I do not wish to hasten to my death.” 

“ Confide in me,” said the soldier. “ With the 
aid of my two companions, whom you see here, I will 
save you from the monster.” 

“ I will do whatever you say,” the princess agreed, 
“ though I have little hope that you can save me.” 

Then the soldier leaped to the ground, helped the 
princess on to the horse’s back, remounted himself, 
and rode on toward the abode of the dragon. The 
dragon heard them coming, and crawled out of its 
cave. “ So you are here at last, princess! ” it 
snorted. “ But I see you have companions with 
you. The more the better, for I shall eat you and 
them, too.” 

Next the dragon addressed the soldier, and said: 
“ Young man, I am all ready. Throw me the prin- 
cess.” 

“ If you want her, come and take her,” the soldier 
responded. 

“ Throw her to me,” ordered the dragon savagely, 
“ or with my sharp teeth I will make sausage meat 
of you in no time.” 

“ I’m not afraid of you,” retorted the soldier. 






THE SOLDIER AND THE DRAGON 127 

“ Now we must all do our duty,” said the bear, in a 
low voice. “ First, let the lady slip off the horse 
and stand out of harm’s way. Then I will clinch 
the monster from the front, and the rabbit shall run 
and nip its tail, and while we are thus taking its 
attention, our master must gallop forward and slash 
off its head.” 

The princess alighted from the horse, and the 
bear dashed at the dreadful creature and grappled 
with it. At the same time the rabbit ran and worried 
it in the rear. Lastly, the soldier put spurs to his 
steed, and joined in the attack. The dragon was too 
much engaged with the bear and rabbit to defend 
itself from him, and with a tremendous blow of his 
sword he cut off the beast’s head. 

“Victory, victory!” cried the soldier and the 
princess. 

But the assailants did not escape without injuries. 
The bear and rabbit had their skins torn, and were 
much fatigued, and the soldier and the princess were 
nearly overcome with the dragon’s sulphurous breath. 
In order to have something to show to the king as a 
proof that the beast had been vanquished, the sol- 
dier cut out the dragon’s tongue and put it in a 
bag to carry along. 

Evening was near, and they could journey no 


128 THE SOLDIER AND THE DRAGON 


farther that day. Therefore, they looked around, 
seeking some place that would afford shelter for 
the night. The dragon’s cave was too foul, and it 
seemed necessary they should sleep on the open 
plain. But the bear rolled together several boulders 
in a half circle to keep off the wind, and in the pro- 
tection of these they all gathered to await the morn- 
ing, except the horse, which was tethered at a little 
remove. The rabbit served as a pillow for the prin- 
cess, and the bear curled down at her feet to keep 
her warm. Before going to sleep they talked about 
the events of the day and their plans for the future. 
One thing they settled then and there to the satis- 
faction of all concerned, and this was that the sol- 
dier should marry the princess. 

It happened that a charcoal-burner, whose curios- 
ity was keener than his fear, ventured on to the plain 
in the late evening, hoping to learn the fate of the 
princess. As he was prowling about he discovered 
the dragon with its severed head, and presently he 
heard a sound of voices and approached the group 
where the soldier and his friends had established 
themselves. He hid behind a boulder and listened 
to the conversation and determined to profit by it. 
When they were all fast asleep he stole softly into the 
midst of the group, and cut off the soldier’s head. 


THE SOLDIER AND THE DRAGON 129 

Then he carried away the princess to his hut on the 
borders of the plain. Afterward he returned and 
secured the head of the dragon. 

In the morning he washed his hands and face, 
brushed his hair, put on his best clothes, and took 
the princess to her father the king and said he was 
the conqueror of the dragon. The king had prom- 
ised his daughter should marry the man, whoever 
he might be, that should deliver her from the dread- 
ful beast. So, after some consultation, the day 
following was appointed for the wedding. But the 
princess protested that the charcoal-burner was not 
her deliverer. However, as he had the head of the 
dragon to show, no one paid much attention to what 
she said. 

When the bear and the rabbit awoke after a long 
night’s sleep they were much astonished to see 
that the princess was gone, and that their mas- 
ter’s head was cut off. “ How is it, bear,” said the 
rabbit, “ that with such things happening you did 
not awake? ” 

“ I was very weary,” replied the bear, “ and it 
seems you slept just as soundly.” 

“ The first thing to be done,” said the rabbit, 
“ is to put our master’s head on his shoulders and 
bring him to life. Then we will search for the prin- 


130 THE SOLDIER AND THE DRAGON 

cess. Luckily I know where to get some magic 
earth that will restore our master, and I will go 
after it at once.” 

The rabbit scurried off while the bear stood on 
guard. In time, the rabbit returned with the magic 
earth. The bear fitted the soldier’s head to his 
body, and the rabbit rubbed the magic earth on the 
wound. Immediately the soldier was made whole, 
and he opened his eyes and sat up. “ Ah,” said he, 
“ How well I have slept! I think from the look of 
the sun it must now be afternoon. But where is the 
princess? ” 

They told him all that had occurred, and he was 
very much troubled. “ You need not worry,” said 
the rabbit; “ we will find the princess soon, I prom- 
ise you.” 

Without delay they set off to go to the royal city, 
and by night they drew near the king’s palace and 
stopped in a small wood. “ You two remain here,” 
said the rabbit, “ and I will find out what is happen- 
ing in the palace.” 

The rabbit went on and crept into the palace, 
where he discovered that a great feast was in progress 
celebrating the return of the princess. One thing 
only marred the pleasure of those who participated, 
and that was her persistence in saying that she did 


THE SOLDIER AND THE DRAGON 131 

not want the charcoal-burner for a husband, and 
that he was not her deliverer. The rabbit entered 
the dining-hall. “ Look, look! a rabbit! ” cried the 
guests. 

The servants hastened to pursue it, but it ran 
and dodged until it came near where the princess 
sat. Then it suddenly sprang into her lap and said 
in a low voice: “ My master, who rescued you from 
the dragon, is not far away. He loves you al- 
ways. ” 

The princess was overjoyed. She caressed the 
rabbit, and was giving it sweetmeats when the 
charcoal-burner began to shout, “ Drive away the 
ugly beast! ” 

“ What harm has it done? ” said the princess, 
protecting it with her arms. 

“ Drive it away quickly, I tell you,” the charcoal- 
burner continued. “ It is a sorcerer. Kill it! ” 

The servants approached armed with brooms and 
sticks, and the rabbit took to flight and leaped 
lightly through the window. 

Next day the wedding guests assembled, but just 
when everything was ready for the ceremony the 
soldier, followed by the bear and the rabbit, entered 
the palace. The guests at this sight were about to 
stampede to safety, but the soldier raised his hand, 


132 THE SOLDIER AND THE DRAGON 

and said, “ Let no one attempt to leave the hall, or 
he will have to deal with my friend here.” 

So saying, he pulled the bear’s ear, and the bear 
growled threateningly. Then the soldier turned to 
the king and asked : “ Do you believe that it was this 
ugly charcoal-burner who rescued your daughter 
from the dragon? And are you willing to give him 
your daughter to be his wife? ” 

“ I am a man of my word,” responded the 
king. 

“ Very well,” said the soldier, “ but the charcoal- 
burner did not deliver the princess from the monster. 
It was I, though I must add that I had the help of 
these two friends, the bear and the rabbit.” 

“ But the charcoal-burner has given us proof we 
cannot doubt,” said the king. “ He brought with 
him the dragon’s head.” 

“ Let the head be produced, and I will prove to 
you that he is a fraud,” said the soldier. 

The king despatched a servant to fetch the head, 
and when it had been brought the soldier said : 
“ Now open the dragon’s mouth. See if it has a 
tongue.” 

The servant opened the monster’s mouth. Sure 
enough, there was no tongue. 

“ Why, how does that happen? ” asked the king. 


THE SOLDIER AND THE DRAGON 133 

“ I cut out the tongue immediately after I killed 
the beast/’ explained the soldier, “ and here it is.” 

From a bag he carried he shook the tongue out 
on a table. 

“ Yes,” cried the princess, “ it is he who was my 
deliverer, and it is he who shall be my husband.” 

The charcoal-burner saw that everything was going 
against him, and he slipped out of sight in the crowd 
and got away unobserved out of the palace. When 
search was made for him he was not to be found. 
“ Well,” said the king, “ I’m glad he is gone. It 
is a good riddance, and now let us have the wedding.” 

So the soldier married the princess, and the event 
was celebrated with holidays and banquets through- 
out the kingdom. 


THE FAIRIES OF MERLIN’S 
CRAG 


I N Scotland, long, long ago, there were two broth- 
ers named Donald and John Gilray. They lived 
together in a little cottage and worked for a 
farmer whose house was about a mile distant. One 
day the farmer sent them to dig peat turf in a pasture 
near a wild, rocky bluff known as Merlin’s Cfag. 
After working for a considerable time, they saw 
coming toward them from the crag a little woman 
about eighteen inches in height, clad in a green gown, 
and wearing on her feet a pair of red shoes. 

She waved a cane she carried at the astonished 
laborers, and said: “ How would you like it if my 
husband was to come and take the roof off from your 
house as you are taking it off from ours ? I command 
you to put back every turf exactly where you found 
it.” 

Then she left them, and the two men, with fear 
and trembling, replaced the turfs. That done, they 
went to their master, and told him what had hap- 


THE FAIRIES OF MERLIN’S CRAG 135 

pened. The farmer only laughed at them. “ You 
must have fallen asleep up there on the moor when 



you ought to have been working,” said he; “ and 
you have had a bad dream to pay you for your neglect. 
Take a cart and fetch home the turfs you have dug 
immediately.” 



136 THE FAIRIES OF MERLIN’S CRAG 

The men went back with much reluctance; but 
nothing unusual happened while they were in 
the pasture, and they loaded a cart and drove with 
it to the farm. After they finished their day’s work 
and were passing Merlin’s Crag on their way home 
in the dusk of evening, they saw streams of brilliant 
light shining forth from innumerable crevices in the 
black rocks. They stopped and ga£ed. “ Come,” 
said John, “ let’s go and find out what this is all 
about. Many’s the time we’ve passed here, and 
we’ve never seen anything like that before.” 

“ No,” said Donald, “ we’re safer to keep to the 
highway.” 

But John would not be satisfied with that, and 
he moved toward the lighted crag, and Donald 
followed. As they drew near they were charmed by 
the most exquisite fiddling they had ever heard. By 
searching they found an opening in the rocks some- 
thing like a rude window, and they looked in and 
saw a company of fairies engaged in a merry dance. 
Among the rest was the little old woman who had 
spoken to them on the peat bog. John was so over- 
powered by the enchanting jigs the fiddler was play- 
ing that he proposed they should go inside the crag 
and join in the fun. 

“ We should never be able to get away,” declared 


THE FAIRIES OF MERLIN’S CRAG 137 

Donald. “ I am as fond of dancing as anyone, 
but nothing would tempt me to dance in that 
company.” 

However, John was more adventurous than his 
brother, and every new jig that was played, and 
every new reel that was danced inspired him with 
additional ardor. At last he could restrain himself no 
longer, and he leaped through the window into the 
midst of the dancers. 

“ Welcome! ” cried the old fairy woman, and she 
held out her hands to him, and off they went in a mad 
whirl. 

“ He is there for no good,” said Donald, who still 
stood at the window. “ What can I do? ” 

After thinking the situation over he began to 
shout remonstrances to his brother and to beg him 
to come out. But neither the fairies nor John would 
pause in their reel, and they only waved their 
hands, beckoning him to join them. There Donald 
stayed shouting to his brother until he heard a cock 
crow at his master’s farm. Immediately the lights 
flashed out, the music ceased and he was alone 
on the side of the wild crag. 

He went back to the farm and told the melancholy 
tale of poor John’s fate. This was soon the talk of 
all the countryside, and it was generally agreed that 


138 THE FAIRIES OF MERLIN’S CRAG 

John was lost forever. But one old man who was very 
wise in fairy lore came to Donald and unfolded a plan 
for accomplishing his brother’s rescue. “ Make a 
little cross out of the wood of the rowan tree,” said 
he, “ and carry it in your pocket, and the fairies will 
have no power over you. Then be sure to pass 
Merlin’s Crag every evening, and when you see it 
lighted, enter it boldly and claim your brother. If 
he refuses to go with you, seize him and carry him 
off by force. You need not be afraid, for as long as 
you have the rowan cross in your pocket the fairies 
will not dare to interfere with you.” 

Donald was not so sure about his safety as the 
old man was, but he was willing to risk much to 
effect his brother’s rescue. So he agreed to try the 
experiment, whatever the result might be. He made 
the rowan cross and carried it in his pocket, and every 
evening he passed Merlin’s Crag watching for the 
lights. But the crag was perfectly dark until just 
a year after the day when the brothers first saw the 
fairies. That evening Donald saw the lights glim- 
mering from the crevices of the rocks, and he at 
once left the road and climbed up till he found the 
very window that he had looked through a twelve- 
month previous. 

There was the same scene within of merry dancers, 


THE FAIRIES OF MERLIN’S CRAG 139 

and the music was just as stirring and delightful. 
In the midst of the dancers was John Gilray whirling 
about with the little old fairy, exactly as his brother 
had last seen him. Donald crept through the window 
and advanced with trembling footsteps. His cour- 
age returned as he went on, and presently he made a 
sudden dash in among the dancers and seized his 
brother by the collar. 

“ You must come with me,” said he. 

“ Yes, yes,” said John, “ I’ll come, and you need 
not handle me so roughly. But first let me finish 
this dance. What is your hurry anyhow? I haven’t 
been here a half hour yet! ” 

“ A half hour! ” exclaimed Donald. “ You have 
been here a whole year.” 

John refused to believe this, but Donald dragged 
him away and got him outside. The little old fairy 
woman looked forth at them through the window. 
“ Good-by,” she said, waving her hand to John. 
“ We have had you here a whole year, a prisoner in 
our dance. That is your punishment for taking the 
roof off our house. But the grass has again grown 
green on the spot where you removed the turf, and 
the roof is nearly as good as ever. So you can go if 
you choose, but I warn you not to be digging your 
turf there again.” 


140 THE FAIRIES OF MERLIN’S CRAG 

She waved her hand once more, and suddenly the 
lights were gone, and the rocks of Merlin’s Crag 
were as black and solid as ever. It was now mid- 
night, and the two brothers went home rejoicing. 


THE LITTLE BOY AND THE 
BIG COW 


O NCE upon a time there was a little boy who 
had a big cow, and he fed her and took good 
care of her and milked her twice a day. 
Everything went on very well until one morning 
he went out to milk her, and said : 

“ Hold still, my cow, my dearie, 

And fill my bucket with milk, 

And if you’ll not be contrary 
I’ll give you a gown of silk.” 

But the cow wouldn’t stand still. “ Look at that, 
now! ” said the little boy. “ What am I to do with 
such a contrary cow? ” 

So off he went to his mother at the house. 
“ Mother,” said he, “ the cow won’t stand still, and 
I can’t milk her.” 

“ Well,” said his mother, “ go to the cow, and tell 
her there’s a weary, weary lady with long yellow 
hair sits weeping for a sup of milk.” 


142 THE LITTLE BOY AND THE BIG COW 

Back he ran to the cow and repeated to her his 
mother’s words, but the cow wouldn’t stand still. 
Then he went to the house again and told his mother. 

“ Well,” said his mother, “ tell the cow there’s a 
fine, fine laddie from the wars beside the weary, 





weary lady with golden hair, who is weeping for a 
sup of milk.” 

Off he went and repeated to the cow his mother’s 
words, but she wouldn’t stand still, and he hurried to 
the house and told his mother. 

“ Well,” said his mother, “ tell the cow there’s a 
sharp, sharp sword at the belt of the fine, fine laddie 
from the wars, who is beside the weary, weary lady 
with golden hair, who sits weeping for a sup of 
milk.” 


THE LITTLE BOY AND THE BIG COW 143 

He told the cow, but she wouldn’t stand still, and 
once more he came to the house to advise with his 
mother. 

“ Run quick,” said she, “ and tell the cow that 
her head is going to be cut off by the sharp, sharp 
sword in the hands of the fine, fine laddie from the 
wars, if she doesn’t give the sup of milk for which 
the weary, weary lady weeps.” 

The little boy went and told the cow, and she 
concluded she had better stand still. So the little 
boy milked the big cow, and the weary, weary lady 
with the golden hair stopped her weeping and got 
her sup of milk, and the fine, fine laddie from the 
wars did not have to cut off the cow’s head with his 
sharp, sharp sword. After that everything went 
well that didn’t go ill. 


A BOTTLE OF BRAINS 


O NCE there was a simple-minded fellow who 
wanted to buy a bottle of brains, for he was 
always getting into scrapes through his 
foolishness, and being laughed at by every one. 
Folk told him he could get whatever he wanted from 
the wise woman, who lived at the top of the hill, 
and dealt in potions and herbs and magic spells, and 
could tell a person all that was going to happen 
to him. So the simple lad asked his mother if he 
could seek the wise woman and buy a bottle of 
brains. 

“ To be sure,” said she, “ for you are in sore need 
of them, my son; and if I should die, who would 
take care of a poor, simple fellow such as you are. 
But mind your manners, and speak fair to her, my 
lad. These wise folk are easily mispleased.” 

After he had eaten supper, off he went to the 
wise woman on the hill, and there he found her sitting 
in her kitchen by the fire stirring a big pot. 

“ Good evening, missis,” said he, as he entered the 
door; “ it’s a fine night.” 


\ 


A BOTTLE OF BRAINS 


145 


“ Yes,” said she, and went on stirring. 

“ But it will maybe rain,” said he, fidgeting from 
one foot to the other. 

“ Maybe,” said she. 

“ And perhaps it won’t,” said he, and looked out 
of the window. 

“ Perhaps not,” said she. 

He scratched his head and twisted his hat. 

“ Well,” said he, 44 I can’t think of anything else 
about the weather, but let me see — the crops are 
getting on fine.” 

“ Yes,” said she. 

“ And — and — the beasts are fattening,” said he. 

44 They are,” said she. 

“ And — and — ” said he, and came to a stop. 
But after a few moments he remarked: 44 I reckon 
I’ve talked enough for politeness, and now we’ll 
tackle business. Have you any brains to sell ? ” 

44 That depends on what you want,” said she. 
44 If you are after king’s brains, or soldier’s brains, 
or schoolmaster’s brains, I do not keep them.” 

44 Mercy, no! ” he exclaimed, 44 I’m not after such 
as that, but just ordinary brains — fit for any simple 
fellow — the same as every one has about here — 
something plain and common-like, and only a bottle 
full.” 


A BOTTLE OF BRAINS 


146 

“ Very well,” said the wise woman, “ I might 
manage it if so be you’ll help yourself.” 

“ What would you have me do? ” he asked. 

She looked into the pot before replying, and then 
said, “ Bring me the heart of the thing you like best, 
and I’ll tell you where to get your bottle of brains.” 

“ But how can I do that? ” he questioned anxiously. 

“ That’s not for me to say,” she answered. “ Find 
out for yourself, my lad, if you do not want to live to 
be a simpleton all your days. Now I must attend 
to other matters; so good evening to you,” and she 
bowed him out and shut the door. 

Off went the lad to his mother and told her what 
the wise woman had said; “ and I reckon I’ll have 
to kill our pig,” he added, “ for I like fat pork better 
than anything else.” 

“ Then kill the pig,” advised his mother, “ for 
certainly it will be a strange and good thing for you 
if you can buy a bottle of brains and be able to take 
care of yourself.” 

So he killed the pig, and the next day he again 
visited the wise woman at her cottage on the hill. 
There she sat by the hearth, reading in a great book. 

“ Good evening, missis,” said he, “ I’ve brought 
you the heart of the thing I like best of all. It is the 
heart of our pig.” 


A BOTTLE OF BRAINS 


147 


“ Is that so? ” said she, and looked at him through 
her spectacles. “ Then tell me this — what runs 
without feet? ” 

He thought and thought and thought, but he 
could not tell. 

“ Go your way,” said she. “ You have not fetched 
me the right thing yet, and I have no brains for you 
today.” 

So saying, she clapped her book together, and 
turned her back, and the lad went to tell his 
mother. 

As he drew near to the house, out ran some of the 
neighbors to inform him that his mother was dying. 
When he went in, she smiled at him feebly, and soon, 
without speaking a word, breathed her last. He left 
the room and sat down on a bench just outside of the 
house door, and the more he thought about his 
mother’s death, the worse he felt. He remembered 
how she had taken care of him ever since he was a 
tiny child, helping him with his lessons, cooking his 
food, mending his clothes, and bearing with his 
foolishness. 

“ Oh, mother, mother! ” he sighed, “ who will 
take care of me? You have left me all alone, and 
what shall I do now to get that bottle of brains? ” 

After the funeral was over he went once more to 


A BOTTLE OF BRAINS 


148 

consult the wise woman, and he told her of his moth- 
er’s sudden death, and how he had now more need 
than ever of the bottle of brains. 

“ Well,” said she, “ I can do nothing for you yet, 
unless you can answer me one more riddle that I 
have to ask. What is it that is yellow and shining, 
but is not gold? ” 

He pondered on her question for a long time with- 
out being able to give any answer, and at last she 
shut the door in his face, and he walked sadly away. 
Pretty soon he sat down by the roadside and began 
to cry, and he fairly howled till the tears ran down 
into his mouth. While he was in the midst of his 
grief along came a lass who lived near by, and she 
stopped and looked at him. “ What’s troubling 
you? ” she asked. 

“ Oh dear! ” said he, “ I’ve killed my pig and lost 
my mother, and I’m nothing but a simpleton.” 

“ That’s bad,” said she; “ and haven’t you any- 
body to look after you ? ” 

“ No,” said he, “ and what is worst of all I don’t 
know how to buy a bottle of brains.” 

“ What are you talking about? ” said she; and 
down she sat by him, and he told her all about the 
wise woman, and the pig, and his mother, and the 
riddles, and that he was alone in the world. 





The lass stopped and looked at him 






A BOTTLE OF BRAINS 151 

Well, said she, “ I wouldn’t mind looking after 
you myself.” 

Could you do it? said he, wiping away his 
tears and gazing at her hopefully. 

Oh, yes, said she, “ folk say that simpletons 
make good husbands, and I believe I’ll have you, if 
you are willing.” 

“ Can you cook? ” said he. 

“ Yes,” said she. 

“ And scrub? ” said he. 

“ Surely,” said she. 

“ And mend my clothes? ” said he. 

“ I can,” said she. 

“ I reckon you’ll suit me as well as anybody,” 
said he, “ but what shall I do about getting a bottle 
of brains from the wise woman? ” 

“ Wait a bit,” said she, “ and perhaps we can 
show her that it will not matter if you are a simpleton 
so long as you have me to look after you.” 

“ All right,” said he. 

Then off they trudged and got married. Afterward 
they w*ent to the house where the youth’s mother had 
lived, and his wife kept it so clean and neat, and 
cooked his food so nice that one evening he said to 
her, “ Lass, I’m thinking I like you best of anything.” 

“I’m glad to hear it,” said she. 


I 5 2 


A BOTTLE OF BRAINS 


“ But/’ said he, “ have I got to kill you, do you 
think, and take your heart to the wise woman for 
that bottle of brains? ” 

“ Law, no!” she exclaimed, looking scared, “I 
will not have that, but you might take me as I am, 
heart and all, and I’ll wager I can help you read her 
riddles.” 

“ Do you think so? ” said he. “ I’m afraid they 
are too hard for women folk.” 

“ Let us see,” said she. “ What was the first? ” 

“ What runs without feet? ” said he. 

“ Why, water,” she said. 

“ So it does,” said he, and clapped his hands glee- 
fully; “ and what is yellow and shining but is not 
gold?” 

“ Why, the sun,” said she. 

“ Faith, it is! ” said he. “ Come, we’ll go to the 
wise woman at once,” and off they went. 

When they climbed the hill they found the wise 
woman sitting in her cottage doorway. “ Good 
evening, missis,” said the lad, “ I reckon I’ve fetched 
. you the right thing this time.” 

The wise woman looked at them both and wiped 
her spectacles. Then she said, “ Can you tell me 
what it is that has first no legs, and afterward two 
legs, and ends with four legs? ” 


A BOTTLE OF BRAINS 153 

The lad scratched his head, and thought and 
thought and thought, but he couldn’t tell. 

At last the lass whispered in his ear, “ It’s a tad- 
pole.” 

Then he turned to the wise woman and said, 
“ Perhaps it might be a tadpole.” 

The wise woman nodded her head. “ That’s 
right,” said she, “ and you’ve got your bottle of 
brains already.” 

“ Where? ” asked he, looking about and feeling 
in his pockets. 

“ In your wife’s head,” she answered. “ The only 
cure for a simpleton is a good wife to look after him, 
and that you’ve got. So good evening to you.” 

She nodded to them, and got up and went into the 
house. Then they walked home together, and he 
never wanted to buy a bottle of brains again, for 
his wife had enough for both of them. 


THE PEDDLER OF 
SWAFFHAM 


I N the old days, when London Bridge was lined 
with shops from one end to the other, and salmon 
swam under the arches, there lived in the town 
of Swaffham, about a hundred miles northward from 
London, a poor peddler. He had much ado to make 
a living, trudging about with his pack on his back 
and his dog at his heels, and at the close of each day’s 
labor he was only too glad to lie down and sleep. 

It so happened one night that he dreamed a dream; 
and in the dream he saw the great bridge of London 
Town, and a voice seemed to tell him that if he went 
thither he would have joyful news. He made little 
account of the dream, but on the following night it 
came back to him, and likewise on the third night. 
Then he said within himself, “ I must needs find 
out what truth there is in this matter.” 

So off he trudged to London Town. Long was the 
way, and right glad was he when he stood on the 
great bridge and saw the tall houses to the right and 


THE PEDDLER OF SWAFFHAM 155 

left of the roadway where the teams and the people 
went and came, and had glimpses of the river and 



of the boats and ships moving about on it. All day 
long he paced to and fro, but he heard nothing to 
yield him comfort. Again, on the morrow, he stood 
and he gazed, and he paced afresh the length of Lon- 


156 THE PEDDLER OF SWAFFHAM 

don Bridge, but naught did he hear in the way of 
glad news. 

The third day came, and there he was again on 
the bridge. He was looking about when a shopkeeper, 
standing at the door of his shop close by, spoke to 
him, saying: “ Friend, this is the third day I have 
seen you loitering about here. I wonder much what 
object you have in so doing. Have you wares to 
sell? ” 

“ No,” quoth the peddler. 

“ I have not observed you beg for alms,” said the 
shopkeeper. 

“ I am not so poor that I would need to do that,” 
responded the peddler, “ and I shall never beg so long 
as I can provide for myself.” 

“ Then what, I pray you, do you want here? ” in- 
quired the shopkeeper, “ and what is your business? ” 

“ Well, kind sir,” responded the peddler, “ to 
tell the truth, I dreamed that if I came thither I 
would have good news.” 

Right heartily did the shopkeeper laugh. “ Ah! ” 
said he, “ you must be a fool to go on a journey with 
no better excuse than that. I must tell you, my 
poor, silly country fellow, that I also dream at night, 
and thrice recently have I dreamed that I was in 
Swaffham, a place I never have even been near in my 


THE PEDDLER OF SWAFFHAM 157 

life, and I thought I was in a field behind a peddler’s 
house, and in the field was a great oak tree, and a 
voice seemed to tell me that if I dug beneath that 
tree I would find a rich treasure. But do you fancy 
I am so lacking in sense as to undertake a long and 
wearisome journey because of a foolish dream? No, 
my good fellow; and now I would have you take 
advice from a wiser man than yourself. Get you 
home and mind your business.” 

The peddler answered never a word, but was ex- 
ceedingly glad in himself and returned home speedily. 
As soon as possible he dug under the great oak, and 
there he found a prodigious treasure. It made him 
very rich, but he did not forget his duty in the pride 
of his wealth; for he rebuilt the Swaffham church. 
When he died a statue of him was put in the church, 
all in stone, with his pack on his back, and his dog 
at his heels. There it stands to this day a witness 
to the truth of this story. 


THE ORANGE FAIRY 


I N the olden time there was once a sultan whose 
days were joyless because he had no son. Once 
he was out walking with his vizier, and they 
passed out of the city and went on and on until they 
came to a wild, craggy valley. In this valley they 
sat down to rest. Suddenly the ground was shaken 
as if by an earthquake, there was a clap of thunder, 
and a yellow-robed, yellow-slippered, white-bearded 
dervish stood before them. The emperor and the 
vizier were so frightened they could not stir, but 
when the dervish addressed them with the words, 
“ Peace be unto you,” they took heart and responded 
courteously, “ Unto you be peace.” 

“What is your errand here, my lord sultan?” 
asked the dervish. 

“ If you know that I am a sultan, you must also 
know my errand,” the emperor replied. 

Then the dervish took from his bosom an apple, 
presented it to the sultan, and said, “ Let the sultana 


THE ORANGE FAIRY 


T 59 

eat half of this, and eat the other half yourself.” So 
saying, he disappeared. 

The sultan went home, and he and the sultana 
each ate half the apple, and within a year a little 
prince was born to them. So joyful was the sultan 
over this event, that he scattered gold coins among 
the poor, restored to freedom his slaves, and gave a 
magnificent banquet to his courtiers. 

The years passed until the prince had reached the 
age of fourteen, and still his parents fondled him and 
treated him like a child. One day he said to his 
father, “ I want you to make me a little marble 
palace, and let there be two fountains in it, one of 
which shall run with honey, and the other with 
butter. ,, 

So dearly did the sultan love his son, that he had 
the little marble palace made with the two fountains 
in it just as the lad had desired. When the sultan’s 
son went into his completed palace and sat looking 
at the bubbling fountains of butter and honey, an 
old woman came with a pitcher in her hand and 
would have filled it at one of the fountains. But the 
sultan’s son threw a stone at the old woman’s pitcher 
and broke it in pieces. Then the old woman went 
away without saying a word. 

Next day she was there again with a pitcher, 


160 THE ORANGE FAIRY 

which she was about to fill when the prince threw a 
stone and shattered it. Then the old woman silently 
departed. On the third day also she came to fill a 
pitcher, and the prince threw a stone that broke the 
pitcher to fragments. “ O youth! ” said she, “ ’tis 
the will of God that you shall fall in love with an 
orange fairy.” With these words she quitted him. 

From that time on the prince gradually became 
pale and thin. The sultan observed this and sent for 
the wise men and the doctors, but they could not 
cure the prince of his illness. At last the youth said 
to his father: “ My dear daddy, these wise men of 
yours labor in vain to help me. I am in love with 
an orange fairy, and I shall never be better till I find 
her.” 

“ You are the only child 1 have in the wide world,” 
groaned the sultan. “ If you leave me to search for 
this fairy, perchance you would never return, and 
my happiness would be destroyed.” 

Time went on and the prince continued to slowly 
wither away, and he became so listless that most of 
the time he lay with closed eyes as if in a heavy 
sleep. So his father saw it would be best for the 
youth to go and, if possible, find the orange fairy. 
As s&on as he had the sultan’s permission, the prince 
went away over the mountains and through the 


THE ORANGE FAIRY 


161 


valleys. After traveling for many days he came to 
a vast plain, and in the midst of it met a giantess 



as tall as a church spire. She was chewing gum, and 
the sound of her chewing could be heard a half-hour’s 
journey off. 


162 


THE ORANGE FAIRY 


“ Good day, madam,” said the youth. 

“ Good day, little sonny,” she responded. “ If 
you had not spoken so politely, I would have gobbled 
you up. Whither are you going? ” 

The youth heaved a sigh, and said, “ I have fallen 
violently in love with an orange fairy, but I don’t 
know where to find her.” 

“ Neither do I know,” said the giantess. “ But 
I have forty sons, and they go up and down the earth 
more than I do. Perhaps they can tell you something 
of the matter.” 

So the giantess took the prince to her home, and 
toward evening, when it began to grow dusk, she 
gave him a tap on the head and turned him into a 
broom and placed him beside the door. Immediately 
afterward the forty sons arrived, and as they came 
in they said, “ Mother, we smell man’s flesh.” 

“ Nonsense! ” said the mother. “ Sit down to 
supper.” 

They were busy eating and drinking when she 
said to them, “ If a man should come to our dwelling 
as my guest, how would you treat him? ” 

“ Like a brother, of course,” they replied. 

Then their mother tapped the broom, and there 
stood the sultan’s son. “ This is my guest,” said 
she. 


THE ORANGE FAIRY 


163 

They greeted him cordially, inquired after his 
health, and asked him to sit down and eat with 
them. “ But he does not care for your sort of food,” 
said the giantess. “ He eats fowls, beef, mutton, 
and such things.” 

So one of the sons jumped up and went out and 
slew a sheep, and brought it in and laid it before the 
prince. “ That won’t do,” said the giantess. “ Men 
do not eat mutton until it is cooked.” 

They therefore skinned the sheep, roasted it, and 
again placed it before him. He ate enough to satisfy 
his hunger, and stopped, but the sons exclaimed, 
“ Why, that’s nothing! ” and urged him to eat 
more. 

“ No, my sons,” said their mother, “ he has eaten 
all he needs.” 

“ Let me see what this roasted sheep-meat is like,” 
said one of the sons. So he took it up and devoured 
the whole of it in a couple of mouthfuls. 

The prince stayed with the giants over night, and 
in the morning the giantess said to her sons: “ Our 
guest is greatly troubled because he has fallen in 
love with an orange fairy and knows not where to 
find her. Can you show him the way? ” 

Then the youngest of the forty sons leaped up with 
a shout of joy and said, “ I know where she is!” 


THE ORANGE FAIRY 


164 

“ Very well,” said his mother, “ take this youth to 
his fairy that his heart may be at rest.” 

So the youngest of the giant brothers took charge 
of the prince, and they went merrily away together 
and traveled until at last the giant said: “ We shall 
come presently to a large garden in which there is a 
spring. Stand beside the spring and do as I tell you, 
and then lay hold of what you see in the water.” 

Soon they came to the garden, and the prince 
went and stood at the margin of the spring. “ Shut 
your eyes and open your eyes,” said the giant. 

The prince obeyed, and then he saw an orange 
bobbing up and down on the surface of the water. 
He at once reached down and grasped it. “ Now,” 
said the giant, “ take care not to cut open the orange 
in any place where there is no water, or things will 
go badly with you. That orange contains your 
fairy.” 

Then they parted, one to go to the right and the 
other to the left. The sultan’s son went on and on 
and on, and in the course of time came to a clear 
spring beneath the wide-spreading branches of a 
big tree. He drank of the water and said to himself, 
“ Here is a good place to cut open my orange.” 

Scarcely had he cut through the peel when out 
popped a lovely damsel. Not even the full moon 


THE ORANGE FAIRY 165 

could be more beautiful. She immediately called for 
water, and he gave her some from the spring. After 
talking together for a time he told her he would go to 
a town that was near and hire a carriage to take them 
to his father’s palace. 

He had not been gone long when she observed 
some one coming, and she climbed into the tree and 
concealed herself in the leafage on a branch directly 
over the spring. The person she saw approaching 
was a negro maidservant, who came to fill a jar with 
water. As this servant looked into the spring she 
saw the reflection of the damsel in the watery mirror. 
“ Why! ” said she in surprise, “ I did not know I 
looked like that. I am much more beautiful than 
my mistress. She ought to fetch water for me, and 
not I for her.” 

So saying, she gave the jar a bang that broke it to 
bits, and then she went home. Her mistress asked 
where the jar of water was, and the servant replied, 
“ I am much more beautiful than you, and you must 
do the water-fetching in future.” 

Her mistress picked up a mirror and held it before 
the maid. “ Look in this,” she said. “ I think you 
must have taken leave of your senses.” 

The negress looked into the mirror and saw that 
she was as black as ever. Without another word she 


i66 


THE ORANGE FAIRY 


got a jar and went again to the spring. But there she 
saw the reflection of the face of the damsel who was 
in the tree, and again she fancied it was her own. “ I 
was right after all,” said she. “ I am ever so much 
more beautiful than my mistress.” 

So she smashed the jar and went home. Her mis- 
tress asked her why she had not brought the water. 
“ Because I am ever so much more beautiful than 
you,” said the maid. “ Therefore you must fetch 
the water for me.” 

“ You are downright crazy,” declared her mistress, 
and once more produced the mirror. 

When the negress saw her face in it she took another 
jar and for the third time went to the spring. But 
there the damsel’s face appeared, and the negress 
was about to break the jar when the fairy addressed 
her from the tree, saying: “ It is my face you see in 
the water.” 

The negress looked up and saw the wondrously 
beautiful damsel. £< Who are you and why are you 
there? ” she asked. 

“ I am a fairy,” replied the damsel, “ and I am 
waiting for a prince who has gone to the town near 
by after a carriage. When he returns we shall ride 
away to his father’s palace.” 

The negress climbed up beside the maiden, and 


THE ORANGE FAIRY 167 

said: “ Dear lady, you will get a cramp from crouch- 
ing here. Rest your head against me.” 

So the damsel rested her head on the shoulder of 
the negress, who took a needle from her dress and 
slyly pricked the damsel’s neck. Instantly the orange 
fairy became a bird, and pr-r-r! she was gone, leaving 
the negress alone in the tree. 

By and by the prince came back with a fine coach. 
He looked up into the tree and saw the black face. 
“ What has happened to you? ” he asked. 

“ That is a nice question,” she retorted. “ Why 
did you leave me here all day till the hot sun turned 
me black? ” 

The changed aspect of his fairy was very discon- 
certing to the prince, but he helped the black damsel 
descend from the tree and took her in the coach 
straight to his father’s palace. Every one was eager 
to see the fairy he had brought home, and when they 
saw the negress they were amazed that he could have 
lost his heart to what was apparently an ordinary 
black servant maid. 

“ But she is not what she seems,” declared the 
prince. “ I had to leave her in a tree while I went 
to get a coach, and she was blackened there by the 
rays of the sun. She will soon grow white again, and 
then I will marry her.” 


i68 


THE ORANGE FAIRY 


A fine garden adjoined the palace, and one day the 
orange-bird came to it, lit on a tree, and called down 
to the gardener. 

“ What do you want with me? ” he asked. 

“ I wish you would tell me what the sultan’s son 
is doing,” said the bird. 

“ He is doing no harm that I know of,” replied 
the gardener. 

“ And what is the black damsel doing? ” the bird 
asked. 

“ Oh, I suppose she is sitting with him as usual,” 
the gardener answered. 

Then the bird sang these words: 

“ Though she sits by his side, 

She’ll not long there abide. 

She makes a false showing 
And trouble is growing. 

When I light on a tree 
The tree dies, as you’ll see.” 

The bird flew away, but the next day it came again 
and asked about the sultan’s son and the black 
damsel, and repeated the song it sang before. In like 
manner it came the third day, and each time the 
tree it rested on withered and died. The afternoon 
of the third day the prince walked in the garden, 
and he observed the withered trees. “ You ought 


THE ORANGE FAIRY 


169 

to take better care of the trees,” said he to the 
gardener. “ Do you not see that they are withering 
away? ” 

“ They were all right,” said the gardener, “ until 
a few days ago a little bird began coming here and 
asking about you and the damsel you brought home 
in the coach. It said that every tree it lit on should 
wither.” 

“ Smear the trees with bird-lime,” ordered the 
prince, “ and if you catch the bird, bring it to 
me.” 

The gardener used the bird-lime, and the next 
day caught the bird. Then he put it in a cage, and 
carried it to the prince. The black damsel was with 
the prince, and as soon as she saw the bird she knew 
it was the orange fairy. Later in the day she pre- 
tended to be very ill, and she declared that she would 
never get well unless she could have such a bird as 
was in the gardener’s cage to eat. The prince said 
she might do as she pleased with the caged bird. So 
she directed that it should be killed and cooked and 
brought to her, and that the feathers and whatever 
she did not eat should be burned. 

All was done as she wished, except that one feather 
slipped unnoticed into a crack in the kitchen hearth. 
After the black damsel had eaten the flesh of the 


170 


THE ORANGE FAIRY 


bird, she arose from her bed completely recovered 
from her illness. 

A certain old woman who had a cottage in the 
vicinity sometimes came to the palace kitchen to see 
a daughter who worked there. One day she noticed 
a bright feather in a crack of the hearth. She poked 
it out with her knitting-needle, and carried it home 
and put it on a rafter. The next time she went to the 
palace, the bird’s feather leaped down from the 
rafter, shivered a little, and then turned into a 
lovely damsel. This damsel tidied the room, cooked 
dinner and set it on the table, and afterward became 
a feather and leaped back to the rafter. When the 
old woman came home she was greatly astonished 
at what she saw, and she searched the house back- 
ward and forward to see if she could discover the 
person who had been helping her, but no one could 
she find. 

It was the same the next time she went to the 
palace — the feather became a damsel and did all 
the household work. “ I really must find out the 
secret of this,” thought the old woman when she 
returned. 

So the following morning she went out as if she 
were going away, but left the door ajar and hid where 
she could peep through a crack. Soon she perceived 


THE ORANGE FAIRY 


171 

there was a damsel in the room putting things in 
order and cooking the dinner. Then in she dashed 
and seized hold of her. “ Who are you? ” she de- 
manded, “ and whence do you come? ” 

The damsel told her sad story, and the old woman 
said: “ Distress yourself no more, my lass. I’ll put 
your affairs to rights this very day.” 

Then off she went to the palace and invited the 
prince to call on her that evening. He was now so 
tired of the black damsel that he was glad of any 
excuse to get away from her, and the evening found 
him punctually at the old woman’s. They sat down 
to supper, and presently the damsel brought in the 
coffee. When the sultan’s son saw her he nearly 
fainted. As soon as he recovered himself a little, and 
the maiden had left the room, he turned to the old 
woman and asked, “ Who is that damsel? ” 

“ She is the orange fairy,” replied the old 
woman. 

“ I thought she could be no other! ” he exclaimed, 
and he rose from the table and ran to where the dam- 
sel was and took her in his arms. 

Presently they went to the palace together, and 
the instant the black slave girl caught sight of them 
she knew her perfidy had been discovered, and she 
fled from the palace, never to return. Not long after- 


172 


THE ORANGE FAIRY 


ward the prince married his beloved, and there was 
rejoicing throughout the realm. So they at last had 
the desire of their hearts, and may you have your 
desire also. 


THE MYSTERIOUS VOICE 


O NCE upon a time there was a man who above 
all other things desired to accumulate wealth. 
Day and night he thought of nothing else. 
Fortune favored him, and as time went on he ac- 
quired more and more property until he became very 
rich. Now that he had so much to lose he thought it 
would be a terrible thing to die and leave all his 
possessions behind. So he made up his mind to seek 
a land where there was no death. 

He got ready for the journey, took leave of his 
wife, and started. Whenever he came to a new 
country the first question he asked was whether 
people died in that land. If he was told that they 
did, he continued on his quest. However, he at 
last reached a country where they said the people 
did not even know the meaning of the word death. 
The traveler was delighted to hear this. “ But 
surely,” said he, “ there must be great numbers of 
inhabitants in your land if no one ever dies.” 

“ No more than in most lands,” they responded; 
“ for we would have you know that from time to 


174 THE MYSTERIOUS VOICE 

time a voice is heard calling to this one or that, and 
whoever is called always goes away and never comes 
back.” 

The man was amazed that the people should be 
so stupid as to follow the voice when they knew that 
if they obeyed its summons they would never return. 
He journeyed back to his home, got all his possessions 
together, and went with his wealth and his wife and 
children to dwell in the country where the people 
did not die. To be sure they disappeared one after 
the other in response to the call of that mysterious 
voice; but he made up his mind that when he or any 
of his family heard the voice they would pay no 
heed to it, however loud its appeal. 

After they were settled in their new home and 
had put everything in order, he warned his wife 
and children that they must on no account listen to 
or obey a strange voice they might some day hear 
calling them. 

For several years everything went well with them 
and they lived happily in their new home. But one 
day when they were all sitting together around the 
dining-table the man’s wife suddenly started up, ex- 
claiming: “ I am coming! I am coming! ” 

She looked around the room for her fur coat, and 
she had picked it up and was putting it on, when her 


THE MYSTERIOUS VOICE 175 

husband took firm hold of her hand and restrained 
her, saying: “ Don’t you remember what I told you? 
If you have heard a voice calling to you, stay where 
you are unless you wish never to return.” 

“ But I am merely going to see why I am wanted,” 
she said. “ I shall soon come back.” 

She struggled to get away and to go where the 
voice summoned, but he would not release her, and 
he ordered the servants to shut and bolt all the doors. 
Then she sank into a chair and said: “ I see you will 
not let me go.” 

So her husband thought she was resigned to stay- 
ing, and that she had gotten over her mad impulse to 
obey the voice. But no sooner did he loose his hold 
on her hand and turn away than she sprang to her 
feet-, made a sudden dash to a door, unbolted and 
opened it, and darted out. He followed her and 
contrived to grasp her fur coat. Thus he was able 
to restrain her while he implored her not to go, and 
told her she certainly would never return. She made 
no reply, but let her arms fall backward, and suddenly 
slipped out of the coat and left it in her husband’s 
hands. The poor man seemed turned to stone, 
without power to move, as he gazed after her hurry- 
ing away from him, and listened to her calling as she 
ran: “ I am coming! I am coming! ” 


THE MYSTERIOUS VOICE 


176 

When she was quite out of sight he went into the 
house, saying: “ If she is so foolish as to wish to leave 
us forever, I cannot help it. I warned and implored 
her to pay no heed to that voice, however loudly it 
might call.’ , 

The rest of the family lived peacefully after this 
for a number of years. But at last the man was one 
day at the barber’s being shaved. The shop was full 
of people, and his chin had been covered with lather. 
Suddenly he started up from his chair and called out 
in a loud voice: “ I won’t come! Do you hear? I 
won’t come! ” 

The barber and the other people in the shop 
listened to him with astonishment. Again he looked 
toward the door, and exclaimed, “ I tell you once 
for all that I do not mean to come; so go away! ” 

A few minutes later he shouted: “ Go away or it 
will be the worse for you. You may call as much as 
you like, but you will not get me to come.” 

He grew as angry as if some one was actually 
standing at the door tormenting him. Finally he 
got up and said to the barber: “ Give me the razor 
you are using. I’ll teach that fellow to leave peo- 
ple alone for the future.” 

He snatched the razor out of the barber’s hand 
and rushed forth from the shop as if he were running 


THE MYSTERIOUS VOICE 177 

after some one. The barber did not wish to lose his 
razor, and he pursued the man to rescue it. They 
both continued at full speed out of the town until 
they came to the edge of a precipice. Down this 



the man plunged head foremost, and he never was 
seen again. So he, too, like the others, had been 
forced, against his will, to follow the voice that called 
him. 

The barber went home congratulating himself 
that he had escaped the fate of the man he had pur- 


178 THE MYSTERIOUS VOICE 

sued. He told what had happened, and it was noised 
abroad that the people who had gone away and 
never returned had all fallen down that preci- 
pice. Hitherto it had not been known where they 
went, when they heard the voice and obeyed its call. 
Crowds of people came to examine the fateful preci- 
pice where such numbers had disappeared. Yet 
they could discover no clue as to what had 
finally become of the missing ones, for they could 
see nothing beyond the declivity but a vast plain 
that looked as if it had been there from the beginning 
of the world. 


JOHNNY GLOKE 


J OHNNY GLOKE was a tailor by trade; but he 
was a man of too much spirit to continue to be 
a tailor all his days. In fact, he was fonder of 
basking idly in the sun than of plying the needle and 
scissors. As time went on he grew more and more 
discontented, and the desire to follow some other path 
that would lead to honor and fame finally induced 
him to swear that he would do tailoring no longer. 
From its resting-place on the wall of his workroom 
he took down a rusty old sword that had belonged 
to some of his ancestors, and set out* in search of 
adventures. 

After traveling a long way, he came to a country 
that was much troubled by two giants, whom no one 
was bold enough to encounter, or strong enough to 
overcome. He soon learned that the king had offered 
a great reward and the hand of his daughter in 
marriage to the man who should rid his kingdom of 
this scourge. Johnny’s ardor was roused to attempt 
the deed, and he offered himself for the service. 

The common haunt of the giants was a certain 


180 JOHNNY GLOKE 

wood, and Johnny set out with his old sword to 
perform the task of vanquishing them. When he 
reached the wood, he lay down to think and con- 
trive some plan of action by which he could gain 
an advantage over the giants, for he knew he was 
far too weak to combat them unless circumstances 
favored him. While he was still thinking, he saw them 
coming with a wagon to get wood for fuel, and the 
sight of them sent the cold shivers down his spine, 
they were so big and had such huge, shaggy heads and 
tusk-like teeth. 

Johnny sought safety by hiding in a hollow tree. 
Presently he recovered sufficiently from his alarm 
to peep out and watch the two at work; and as he 
watched them a method of getting the better of 
them occurred to him. He picked up a pebble and 
threw it so it struck one of the giants a sharp blow 
on the forehead. The giant, smarting with the pain, 
turned on his companion, and in strong words 
blamed him for the blow. The other angrily denied 
that he had thrown the pebble. 

Johnny kept quiet, but as soon as the giants, still 
grumbling at each other, resumed work, he let 
fly another pebble. It hit the same giant who had 
been hit before, and the fellow assailed his companion 
in fury, and they belabored each other till they were 


JOHNNY GLOKE 181 

utterly tired out. Then they sat down on a log 
to breathe and rest themselves. 

“ Well,” said one of them, “ all the king’s army 
has not been able to get the better of us hitherto, 
but I fancy that an old woman with a broom would 
be too much for us now.” 

“ If that is so,” shouted the former tailor, spring- 
ing bold as a lion from his hiding-place, “ what do 
you say to being attacked by Johnny Gloke with 
his old rusty sword? ” 

Before they could recover from the astonishment 
occasioned by his words and sudden appearance he 
had run to where they were, and in a twinkling he 
cut off their heads. That done, he went out of 
the wood and sought the king, who, as soon as he 
was satisfied that Johnny had killed the giants, gave 
him the princess in marriage. 

For a time he lived in peace and happiness, and 
as he did not tell by what method he had overcome 
the giants, he was considered a man of great prowess 
and valor. At length a rebellion broke out among the 
subjects of his father-in-law, and such was Johnny’s 
reputation that he was promptly chosen as the proper 
person to quell the uprising. His heart sank within 
him, but he could not refuse and so lose his great 
name. So he told the servants to fetch a horse for 


182 JOHNNY GLOKE 

him to mount, and they brought the fiercest steed 
that ever saw the sun, and he set forth on his des- 
perate task. He was not accustomed to ride on 
horseback, and he soon lost all control of the fiery 



creature he bestrode. Away it galloped at full speed 
in the direction of the rebel army. 

In its wild career it passed under a gallows that 
stood by the wayside. The gallows was old and frail, 


JOHNNY GLOKE 183 

and it had so rotted away at the base that it leaned 
over the road almost ready to fall. Johnny came into 
collision with it, and it broke off and lodged squarely 
on the horse’s neck. On rushed the horse at furious 
speed, carrying both Johnny and the gallows toward 
the king’s enemies. When the rebels saw the horse 
with its strange burden dashing toward them they 
were seized with terror, and cried one to another: 
“ There comes Johnny Gloke, who unaided killed 
two giants at the same time. Now he is going to 
assail us, and is bringing a gallows on his horse’s 
neck to hang us all.” 

Then they scattered and fled in dismay, and 
never stopped till they reached their homes. Thus 
was Johnny Gloke a second time victorious. So 
when the old king died every one rejoiced to have 
Johnny become the ruler of the kingdom, and he 
reigned long and well. 


HANS THE HEDGEHOG 


O NCE there was a rich farmer who had an 
only son named Hans, and from his waist 
upward the boy was like a hedgehog. He 
was intelligent, and could talk like any other boy, 
but of course he could not be treated as if he was 
entirely human. For one thing, he was not allowed 
to sleep in a bed on account of his prickles. Instead, 
they shook down some straw for him behind the 
stove, and there he spent most of his time until he 
was eight years old. Then the farmer was one day 
going to a fair that was to be held in a neighboring 
town. He asked his wife what he should buy for 
her, and she said, “ Some meat, and a couple of 
loaves of bread for the house.” 

Then he asked the servant maid what she wanted, 
and she replied, “ A pair of slippers and some stock- 
ings.” 

Lastly he said, “ Well, Hans my Hedgehog, and 
what shall I bring you? ” 

“ Daddy,” said Hans, “ please bring me some 
bagpipes.” 


HANS THE HEDGEHOG 


185 

When the farmer returned home he gave his wife 
and the maid the things they had asked for, and then 
he went behind the stove and gave Hans the Hedge- 
hog the bagpipes. 

As soon as Hans received this gift he said : “ Daddy, 
tomorrow morning I wish you would take our largest 
rooster to the harness-maker and have him fitted 
with a bridle. I want to use him for my horse.” 

So the next day the farmer had a harness made for 
the biggest rooster on the farm. Then Hans the 
Hedgehog mounted on the rooster’s back and rode 
away to the forest. There he made the rooster fly 
up to the top of a lofty tree with him. 

For several years he dwelt, there in the greenwood, 
and most of the time he stayed high among the 
branches of that tall tree. Meanwhile his father 
knew nothing of what had become of him. 

As he sat on the rooster’s back in the tree-top he 
played on his bagpipes and made beautiful music. 
Once a king who had lost his way in the forest came 
riding near enough to hear him. He was much 
surprised, and sent a servant to find out whence the 
music came. The man peered about, but saw only 
what seemed to be a rooster perched high in a tree 
with a hedgehog on his back, and this hedgehog 
was apparently playing some bagpipes. 


HANS THE HEDGEHOG 


1 86 

The king told the servant to ask the strange 
creature why he sat there, and also to ask if he could 
direct him how to find the way back to his kingdom. 

When the servant put these questions, Hans the 
Hedgehog came down from the tree and said he 
would show the way if the king would give him his 
written promise to let him have whatever his Royal 
Highness first met as he approached his castle on his 
return. 

The king thought: “This hedgehog probably 
doe's not know one word from another. I can write 
what I please.” 

So he took pen and ink, wrote something, and then 
Hans the Hedgehog showed him the road, and he got 
safely home. His daughter saw him coming while 
he was still at a distance, and she ran to meet him 
and threw her arms about him. Then he remem- 
bered Hans the Hedgehog, and told her what had 
happened in the forest, and how he had been re- 
quired to give a written promise to bestow whatever 
he first met as he approached his palace to an ex- 
traordinary creature which had shown him the way. 
“ The upper half of the creature was like a hedgehog,” 
said the king, “ and he rode on a rooster just as if the 
rooster had been a horse, and he had bagpipes and 
made lovely music. But he certainly could not 



Hans rode away to the forest 


,'"UIUII( 
















































* 















0 














* 











HANS THE ’HEDGEHOG 189 

read, and I wrote that I would not give him any- 
thing at all.” 

Thereupon the princess was quite pleased. “ You 
managed very cleverly,” said she, “ for of course 
you could not have allowed me to be carried off by 
such a hobgoblin.” 

Hans continued to dwell in the forest, and he was 
very merry sitting in his tree and blowing his bag- 
pipes. Presently it happened that another king who 
was traveling through the forest with his servants 
and courtiers lost his way, for the forest was very 
large. He came near enough to the resort of Hans 
the Hedgehog to hear the music, and he said to one 
of his men, “ Go at once and find out what that is.” 

So the servant went under the tall tree, and he 
looked up and saw Hans the Hedgehog perched on 
the rooster, and asked what he was doing up there. 

“ I’m playing my bagpipes,” was the reply. 

Then the servant told him that the king, his 
master, was not able to find the way out of the 
forest back to his kingdom. So Hans the Hedgehog 
descended from the tree with his rooster and went 
to the king and offered to show him the right way 
if he would solemnly promise to give him whatever 
he should meet first in front of his palace. 

To this the king agreed, and he gave Hans a 


190 


HANS THE HEDGEHOG 


written promise to that effect. Then Hans rode on 
in front and showed him the way, and the king 
speedily arrived safely in his own kingdom. There 
was great rejoicing in the palace when he was seen 
returning, and his only daughter, who was very 
beautiful, ran to meet him, and she embraced and 
kissed him, full of delight that her father had come 
home. She inquired where he had been so long, and 
he told her how he had lost his way in the forest 
and might never have gotten back if he had not been 
helped by a strange creature, half man and half 
hedgehog, which rode on a rooster and when dis- 
covered was in a tree-top seated on the rooster’s 
back making music with some bagpipes. “ My 
only trouble now,” said the king, “ is that I had to 
promise to give the creature the first thing which 
met me in front of my palace. I feel very sad, be- 
cause it is you who first met me.” 

“ Never mind,” said the princess. “ Perhaps he 
'will never come for me; but if he does, for your sake, 
I will go with him.” 

After a time Hans decided to leave the forest 
and visit the two kings whom he helped to find 
their way back to their kingdoms. But the first 
king had given strict orders that if any one came into 
his domains riding on a rooster and carrying some 


HANS THE HEDGEHOG 191 

bagpipes he should be chased away, and, if need be, 
shot, or hacked to pieces with swords. On no account 
was he to be allowed to enter the palace. When, 
therefore, Hans the Hedgehog drew near to the 
palace, the guards charged on him with their bayo- 
nets, but he put spurs to his rooster and flew up 
over the gate right to one of the king’s windows. He 
alighted on a balcony and called out that if he was 
not given wj^ft he had been promised, the king and 
his daughter should be punished for their treachery. 

So the frightened king said everything should be 
done as Hans the Hedgehog wished. He ordered a 
carriage to be made ready drawn by six white horses, 
and attended by servants in gorgeous liveries. The 
princess stepped into it, and Hans the Hedgehog 
with his rooster and bagpipes took his place beside 
her. Then they drove away, but they had not gone 
far out of the city when Hans pulled the princess’s 
shawl off and pricked her with his quills, saying: 
“ That is your reward for falsehood. Go back home. 
I will have nothing more to do with you.” 

Then the coach returned with her, and Hans the 
Hedgehog rode away on his rooster to the other king- 
dom. When he entered the royal city, the guards, 
in accord with the king’s orders, presented arms, the 
people cheered, and he was conducted in triumph to 


192 


HANS THE HEDGEHOG 


the palace. At sight of Hans, the princess was a 
good deal startled, for he certainly was very peculiar 
looking, but he told her no harm would befall her 
and she need not be alarmed. So she made him 
welcome, and he sat next to her at the royal table, 
and they ate and drank together. 

Late in the evening Hans had a big fire made in 
his chamber, and at his request four trusty men were 
ordered to stand on guard at his door. About eleven 
o’clock, when he went to his room, he said to the 
guards, “ Never in my life have I slept in a bed, 
and before I get into the one prepared for me here. 
I shall creep out of my hedgehog skin and leave it 
lying on the floor. Ten minutes from now you four 
men must come in and throw the skin into the fire, 
and stand by till it is entirely consumed.” 

Hans entered the room, took off his hedgehog 
skin, and got into bed. Soon afterward the four 
men came in, threw the skin into the fire, and watched 
it burn till there was nothing left of it. Hans was 
now wholly human in his form, but the guards, 
when they looked at him, were dismayed to find that 
he was quite black, as though he h^d been severely 
scorched. They informed the king, and he at once 
summoned a physician. The latter, by the use of 
various salves and ointments, made Hans’ skin 


HANS THE HEDGEHOG 


193 


white, and the youth became as handsome as he 
was clever. When the cure was complete the king’s 
daughter was greatly pleased, and not long afterward 
they were married, and when the old king died Hans 
ruled the kingdom in his stead. 


THE MAGPIE’S NEST 


O NCE upon a time 

When pigs spoke rhyme, 

all the birds of the air came to the magpie and asked 
her to teach them how to build nests; for the magpie 
was very clever. So she had them gather around her 
and began to show them how to do it. First of all 



she took some mud and made a sort of a round cake 
with it. 

“ Oh, that’s how it’s done! ” said the thrush, and 
away she flew, and the thrush has built her nests out 
of mud ever since. 


THE MAGPIE’S NEST 195 

Then the magpie took some twigs and arranged 
them around in the mud. 

“ Now I know all about it,” said the blackbird. 
So off she flew, and the blackbirds make their nests 
of mud and sticks to this very day. 

Then the magpie put another layer of mud over 
the twigs. 

“ Oh, that’s quite plain! ” said the owl, and away 
she flew, and owls have made their nests after that 
manner ever since. 

Next the magpie took some twigs and twined them 
around the outside. 

“The very thing!” exclaimed the sparrow, and 
off she went, and the sparrows to this day make rather 
slovenly nests. 

Then Madge Magpie took some feathers and other 
bits of soft material and lined the nest very nicely 
with it. 

“That suits me!” cried the starling, and away 
she flew, and ever since then the starlings have built 
very comfortable nests. 

The magpie kept on with her work, but the 
birds were constantly leaving before she had fin- 
ished, each thinking she knew all there was to 
know about nest-building. At last the only bird 
that remained was the turtle-dove. She now 


THE MAGPIE’S NEST 


196 

began to repeat her silly cry, “ Take two, Taffy, 
take two-o-o ! ” 

The magpie was just putting a twig across, and 
she said, “ No, one is enough.” 

But the turtle-dove kept on saying, “ Take two, 
Taffy, take two-o-o! ” 

That made the magpie angry, and she exclaimed, 
“ One’s enough, I tell you ! ” 

Still the turtle-dove cried, “ Take two, Taffy, 
take two-o-o! ” 

At this the magpie became so disturbed that she 
flew away, and always afterward, when the birds 
asked her how to build their nests, she refused to tell 
them. That is why different birds build their nests 
differently. 


PUSS IN BOOTS 


O NCE upon a time there was a poor miller 
who had three sons, and when he died he had 
nothing to leave them except his mill, a 
donkey, and a cat. The division was quickly made 
without the help of either lawyer or judge. The 
eldest son took the mill, and the second took the 
donkey. So there was nothing left for the youngest 
but the cat, and the poor fellow could not help feeling 
that he had been treated shabbily. “ My brothers will 
be able to earn a comfortable livelihood,” he sighed, 
“ but as for me, though Puss may feed himself by 
catching mice, he can’t feed me, and I shall certainly 
die of hunger.” 

While he spoke, the cat was sitting near by and 
heard all he said. Immediately the creature jumped 
on his shoulder, rubbed gently against his cheek, 
and began to speak. “ Dear master,” said he, “ do 
not grieve. I am not as useless as you think. Give 
me a bag, and buy me a pair of boots so I can scamper 
through the brush and brambles, and I will make your 
fortune for you.” 


PUSS IN BOOTS 


198 

The lad had very little money to spare, but he 
knew Puss was a faithful creature, and he had seen 
him play many cunning tricks to catch rats and 
mice, so that he did not altogether despair of his 
affording him some help. Therefore he bought him 
a smart pair of boots made of buff-colored leather, 
and gave him the bag for which he had asked. 

Puss drew on the boots, and then he fitted slip- 
strings around the mouth of the bag, put some bran 
and parsley inside, and trotted off with it to a neigh- 
boring hillside where there was an abundance of 
rabbits. He laid the bag on the ground with the 
mouth of it propped open, and hid himself in the 
ferns and bushes and waited. Presently two foolish 
young rabbits came sniffing about and crept into 
the bag to get some of the bran and parsley. The 
clever cat at once drew the slip-strings close, and the 
rabbits were caught. He slung the bag over his 
shoulder, and away he went to the royal palace, where 
he asked to speak with the king. The guards ushered 
him into the king’s presence, and Puss made a low 
bow, lifted the rabbits out of his bag, and said, 
“ Sir, my noble lord, the Marquis of Carabas ” (this 
was the title he chose to confer on his master) “has 
commanded me to present these rabbits to your 
Majesty, with his respects.” 



puss IN BOOTS GREETS THE KING 




PUSS IN BOOTS 199 

“ Tell your master that I thank him,” said the 
king, “ and that he has given me great pleasure.” 

Then he dismissed Puss with many compliments 
and a purse of gold, and ordered his head cook to 
serve the rabbits for dinner so he and his daughter 
might enjoy them. 

The next day Puss went and hid in a grain field 
with the bag baited and open near his hiding-place. 
A brace of partridges ran into it, and he drew the 
strings and caught them. These he took home to his 
master, and he went hunting every pleasant day. 
He kept his master so well supplied with game that 
they lived in plenty, and often he carried some game 
to the king. Whatever it was that he presented at 
the palace, it was always with the message, “ From 
my lord, the Marquis of Carabas.” So every one 
at court was talking of this strange nobleman, 
whom no one had ever seen, but who sent such gen- 
erous gifts to his Majesty. 

By and by Puss decided that it was time for his 
master to be introduced at court. He learned that 
on a certain day the king and his daughter, who was 
the most beautiful princess in the world, were to go 
out in their coach to drive along the riverside, and 
he said to his master: “ If you will follow my advice 
your fortune is made. Go and wash yourself in the 


200 


PUSS IN BOOTS 


river at a spot which I will show you, and leave the 
rest to me.” 

The young man knew nothing of the why or where- 
fore of the cat’s advice, but he went to the river, and 
the cat took charge of his clothes while he plunged 
into the water. He did not enjoy the experience, 
for the water was cold, and he soon stopped splash- 
ing around and stood shivering with the water up to 
his neck, wondering what was to happen next. Just 
then the king’s carriage appeared in sight, and Puss 
at once began to shout: “ Help! help! My lord, the 
Marquis of Carabas is drowning! ” 

The king put his head out of the coach window, 
and he recognized Puss as the cat who had so 
often brought him presents of game. Immediately he 
ordered his attendants to go to the assistance of the 
marquis. While they were pulling the youth out of 
the river the cat came up to the coach and told the 
king that some rogues had gone off with his master’s 
clothes, though in fact the cunning cat had hidden 
them under a big stone. 

On hearing this story the king dispatched one of 
his grooms to fetch a handsome suit of purple and 
gold from the royal wardrobe. When the young man 
had been arrayed in this he looked so well that no 
one for a moment supposed but that he was some 


PUSS IN BOOTS 


201 


noble foreign lord. The king and his daughter were 
so pleased with his appearance that they invited him 
into their carriage. At first he felt a little shy about 
sitting next to a princess, but she smiled at him so 
sweetly, and was so kind and gentle that he soon 
forgot his fears. As for her, after he had cast two 
or three respectful and somewhat tender glances 
in her direction, she fell in love with him to distrac- 
tion. 

When the cat had seen his master seated in the 
royal carriage, he was overjoyed to think how well 
his project was succeeding. He ran on ahead as fast 
as he could trot until he came to a field of grain where 
the laborers were busy reaping. “ Reapers,” said 
he fiercely, “ the king will soon pass this way. If 
he should ask you to whom this field belongs, remem- 
ber that you are to say, ‘ To the Marquis of Carabas.’ 
Don’t dare to disobey me, or I will have you all 
chopped up as fine as mincemeat.” 

The reapers were so afraid the cat would do as he 
threatened that they promised to obey. Puss then 
ran on and told all the other laborers whom he met 
to give the same answer, and declared they would be 
terribly punished if they did not. 

The king was in a very good humor, for the day 
was fine, and he found the marquis a very pleasant 


202 


PUSS IN BOOTS 


companion. So he told the coachman to drive 
slowly, that he might admire the beautiful country. 
“ What a fine field of wheat! ” he said presently, and 
he had the coach stop while he asked the laborers to 
whom it belonged. 

Then the men answered in accord with the cat’s 
orders, “ To our lord, the Marquis of Carabas.” 

“ Sir,” said the marquis, “ this is a field that never 
fails to yield plentifully every year.” 

The coach went on until it encountered a herd 
of cattle. “To whom do these cattle belong?” 
the king asked the drovers. 

“ To the Marquis of Carabas,” they replied. 

It was the same all along the way. The king’s 
inquiries as to the ownership of property received 
this uniform reply. The marquis listened with the 
greatest astonishment, and thought what a wonderful 
cat Puss was; and the king was delighted to find that 
his new friend was as wealthy as he was charming. 

Meanwhile Puss, who was well in advance of the 
royal party, had arrived at a stately castle which 
belonged to a cruel ogre, the richest ever known. 
Indeed, he was the owner of all the land and crops 
and cattle the king had admired so much. The 
cat knocked at the door, and asked to see the ogre, 
who received him quite civilly. He had never before 


PUSS IN BOOTS 


203 

seen a cat in boots, and the sight amused him. So 
he and Puss were soon chatting together. 

“ I have been assured,” said the cat, “ that you 



possess the power to change yourself into any kind 
of animal you choose — a lion or an elephant, for 
instance.” 


204 


PUSS IN BOOTS 


“ Well, so I can,” responded the ogre briskly. 

“ Dear me! ” said Puss, “ how much I should like 
to see you do it now.” 

The ogre was only too glad to have a chance to 
show how clever he was, so he agreed to transform 
himself into any animal Puss might mention. 

“Oh! I will leave the choice to you,” said the 
cat politely. 

Immediately there appeared, where the ogre 
had been seated, an enormous lion, roaring, and 
lashing with his tail, and looking as though he meant 
to gobble up the cat in a trice. Puss was really very 
much frightened, and he jumped out of the window 
and managed to scramble up on the roof, though not 
without abundance of trouble and danger because 
of his boots. There he clung, refusing to come 
down until the ogre resumed his natural form and 
laughingly called to him that he would do him no 
harm, 

Then Puss ventured back into the room and began 
to compliment the ogre on his cleverness. “ Of 
course,” said he in conclusion, “ what you did was 
very marvellous, “ but it would be more surprising 
still if you who are so big and fierce could transform 
yourself into some timid little creature such as a 
mouse. That, I suppose, would be impossible.” 


PUSS IN BOOTS 205 

“ Not at all,” said the ogre, “ One is quite as easy 
to me as the other, as I will show you.” 

A moment later the ogre had vanished, and a 
little brown mouse was frisking about the floor. 
“ Now or never,” said Puss, and with a sudden leap 
he seized the mouse and gobbled it up as fast as he 
could. Instantly all the gentlemen and ladies whom 
the wicked ogre had held in his castle under a spell 
were disenchanted, and they came to express their 
gratitude to their deliverer. They were ready to 
do anything to please him, and at his request they 
agreed to enter into the service of the Marquis of 
Carabas. 

Now the cat had a splendid castle with much 
treasure stored in its vaults, and he ordered a mag- 
nificent feast to be prepared. Then he hurried forth 
to the highway and met the king’s coach. His 
Majesty was looking toward the ogre’s castle. 
“ Whose is it? ” he asked. “ I have never seen a 
finer.” 

“ It belongs to the noble Marquis of Carabas,” 
said Puss, “ and I beg you to honor my master by 
being his guest.” 

The king ordered the coachman to drive to the 
castle, and Puss went on ahead and threw open the 
gates. As the carriage was crossing the drawbridge 


206 


PUSS IN BOOTS 


he cried out, “ Welcome to the castle of my lord, 
the Marquis of Carabas! ” 

Full of surprise, the king turned to the marquis 
and said, “ Not even my own palace can surpass 
the beauty of your castle.” 

Puss helped his Majesty to alight and conducted 
him into a spacious hall, where a group of gentle- 
men and ladies were waiting to receive them. The 
marquis came into the hall with the princess, and 
they all sat down to a splendid banquet. Long 
and merrily they feasted, and when at length the 
guests rose to depart, the king embraced the mar- 
quis and said: “ I am charmed with your many 
excellent qualities, and am greatly impressed with 
the castle which is your home, and with the mag- 
nificence of your hospitality. It will be your own’ 
fault, my Lord Marquis, if you are not my son-in- 
law;’ 

The marquis made several low bows, and thanked 
his Majesty for the honor he conferred on him. Not 
long afterward the miller’s son married the princess, 
and there were rejoicings throughout the land. On 
the evening of the wedding day a great ball was given, 
to which princes and noblemen from near and far 
were invited. Puss opened the ball, wearing for 
the occasion a pair of boots made of the finest leather 


PUSS IN BOOTS 207 

with gold tassels and scarlet heels. I wish you could 
have seen him. 

When the old king died, the princess and her 
husband reigned in his stead. Their most honored 
and faithful friend at court was Puss in Boots, for 
his master never forgot to whom he owed all his 
good fortune. Puss lived on the daintiest meat and 
the most delicious cream, and was petted and made 
much of all the days of his life; and he never ran 
after rats and mice except for exercise and amuse- 


ment. 


THE MASTER AND HIS 
PUPIL 

T HERE was once a very learned man who 
knew all the languages under the sun, and 
who was acquainted with all the mysteries 
of creation. He had in his private room a big book 
bound in black leather and fitted with iron clasps, 
and it was chained to a table which was screwed fast 
to the floor. When he wanted to read in the book he 
unlocked the clasps with a brass key, and he never 
allowed any one else to read in it, for it contained 
many magician’s secrets. Among other things it 
told the names of the demons, and what they did, and 
how they could be summoned and made to work for 
man. 

A young lad lived with the magician and served 
him, but though he worked for the great master he 
was an ignorant youth who was scarcely allowed so 
much as to enter the learned man’s private room. 
But one day, when his master was absent, he went in 


THE MASTER AND HIS PUPIL 209 

there, and satisfied his curiosity by looking around 
to his heart’s content. Here was the wondrous 



apparatus for changing copper into gold, and lead 
into silver; and the mirror in which could be seen all 
that was passing in the world; and the shell which, 
when held to the ear, enabled one to hear any words 


2io THE MASTER AND HIS PUPIL 


being spoken by whatever person one desired to 
know about. 

The lad tried in vain with the crucibles to turn 
copper into gold and lead into silver. Next he gazed 
long and vainly into the mirror, but clouds and 
smoke passed over the scenes within, and he could 
discern nothing clearly. Then he put the shell to 
his ear. That too disappointed him, for he could 
hear only indistinct murmurings like the breaking 
of waves on a distant shore. 

“ I can do nothing,” he said, “ because I do not 
know the right words to utter and make things go 
right. The words I need are locked from sight in 
yonder book.” 

Just then he noticed with surprise that the book lay 
open. The master had forgotten to lock it, and the 
lad ran eagerly to look at its secret- revealing pages. 
Some of the words were in black ink and some in 
red, and they seemed to be in a strange language. 
He could not see a single one that appeared familiar, 
and he sat down and put his finger on a line and 
spelled it through. 

At once the room was darkened, and the house 
trembled, and there was a startling clap of thunder. 
Then the lad saw standing before him a horrible 
winged creature, breathing fire, and with eyes like 


THE MASTER AND HIS PUPIL 211 


burning lamps. It was the demon Beelzebub whom 
he had called up to serve him. 

“ Set me a task! ” cried the demon with a voice 
like the roaring of an iron furnace. 

The boy shivered with fright, and his hair stood 
on end. He knew not what to do or say. 

“ Set me a task or I shall strangle you/’ said the 
demon. 

But the lad could not find voice to speak. The 
evil spirit stepped toward him and reached out his 
hands toward the boy’s throat. The youth shrank 
from the demon’s burning touch, while again the 
command was dinned in his ears. “ Set me a task! ” 

“ Water yon flower,” said the boy in despair, 
pointing to a geranium which stood in a pot on the 
floor. 

Instantly the demon left the room, but a moment 
later he returned with a barrel on his back and poured 
its contents over the flower. Again and again he 
went and came, and poured more and more water 
until the floor of the room was ankle-deep. 

“ Enough, enough! ” gasped the lad. 

But the demon heeded him not. The boy did not 
know the words that must be spoken in order to 
send the demon away, and the evil spirit continued 
to fetch water. It rose to the boy’s knees, and yet 


212 THE MASTER AND HIS PUPIL 

more water was poured. It mounted to his waist, 
and still Beelzebub brought barrel after barrel full. 
It rose to the lad’s armpits, and he scrambled to the 
table-top. Presently the water was half way up the 
window and washing against the gl£ss, and it swirled 
around the lad’s legs where he stood on the table. 
It kept on rising and reached his breast. 

In vain he ordered and begged the demon to 
desist. The evil spirit refused to obey, and he would 
have been pouring water even to this day had 
not the master returned. He came in haste, for he 
had recollected that he had left his book unlocked, 
and he arrived just as the water had reached his 
pupil’s chin. Without a moment’s delay he shouted 
the proper words to make Beelzebub return to his 
fiery home, and the lad was saved. 


THE WHITE TROUT 


T HERE was once a beautiful lady who lived 
beside a lake in the western part of Ireland, 
and she was to be the bride of a king’s 
son. But just before the time set for the wedding 
he was murdered and thrown into the lake. So of 
course he couldn’t keep his promise to the fair lady — 
more’s the pity. 

The lady was that tender-hearted she went out 
of her mind because of losing the king’s son. She 
pined away, and one day disappeared, and it was 
thought that the fairies had taken her. 

After a time a white trout was seen in a stream 
that flowed into the lake, and the people didn’t 
know what to make of the creature, for such a thing 
as a white trout had never been known before. Years 
and years the trout was there, and no harm was ever 
done to it until some wicked sinners of soldiers came 
to those parts. They laughed at the people and 
gibed and jeered at them for never trying to catch 
the white trout. One of them, in particular, swore 


THE WHITE TROUT 


214 

he would have the white trout for his dinner some 
fine day. 

Sure enough, the blackguard caught the trout, 
and away he went home with it, pitched the pretty 
little thing into the frying-pan, and put the frying- 
pan over the fire. The trout squealed just like a 
Christian when it found itself thus cruelly treated, 
and the soldier laughed till he was like to split; for 
he was a hardened villain. When he thought one 
side was done, he turned the trout over to fry the 
other, but to his surprise saw not a sign of a burn 
on it anywhere. “ This is a queer trout that can’t 
be fried,” said he. “ But I’ll give it another turn 
by and by.” 

As soon as the heathen thought that side was 
done he turned the trout again, and behold not a 
bit more broiled was it than when he begaji. “ Bad 
luck to me,” said the soldier, “ but this beats the 
world. However, cunning as you think yourself, 
I’ll try you again, my darling.” 

So saying, he turned the trout over and over, and 
he kept the fire blazing hot, but not a sign of a burn 
would show on the pretty creature. He might have 
known he was doing a wrong thing, seeing that his 
endeavors accomplished nothing, and yet he kept 
on as he had begun. 


THE WHITE TROUT 


215 

“ Well, my jolly little trout,” said he at last, 
“ maybe you’re fried enough, though you don’t 
seem to be any more so than you were when I pulled 
you out of the stream. But perhaps you are better 
than you look, and a tit-bit after all.” 

Then he picked up his knife and fork to have a 
taste of the trout, but the moment he put his knife 
into the fish there was a piercing screech, and the 
trout flopped out of the frying-pan into the middle of 
the floor. Immediately, on the spot where it fell, 
stood a beautiful lady — the loveliest creature that 
eyes had ever seen, dressed in white, and a band of 
gold in her hair, and her arm stained with blood. 

“ Look where you cut me, you villain,” said she, 
and she held her arm out toward him. “ Why 
couldn’t you leave me cool and comfortable in the 
river, and not disturb me in my duty?*” 

The soldier, trembling with terror, stammered 
out some lame excuse, and begged for his life, asked 
her ladyship’s pardon, and declared that he did not 
know she was on duty. “ If I had known it,” said 
he, “ I am too good a soldier to have meddled with 
you.” 

“I was on duty,” the lady affirmed. “I was 
watching for my true love, who is coming to me; and 
if he comes while I am away, so that I miss him, I’ll 


2l6 


THE WHITE TROUT 


turn you into the little fish that is called a pinkeen, 
and I’ll hunt you. up and down for evermore, while 
grass grows or water runs.” 

The soldier nearly fainted away at the thought of 
being turned into a pinkeen. He begged for mercy 
harder than ever, and the lady said: “ Renounce 
your evil ways, or you’ll repent too late. Be a good 
man for the future and go regularly to church; and 
now take me and put me back in the river where 
you found me.” 

“ Oh, my lady! ” exclaimed the soldier, “ how could 
I have the heart to drown a beautiful lady like you? ” 

Before he could say another word the lady had 
vanished, and he saw the little trout on the 
floor. So he put it on a clean plate, and away he 
ran to the river as fast as he could go, fearful that 
her lover would come while she was away. He ran 
and he ran until he came to the edge of the stream 
and then he threw the trout into the water. 

From that day the soldier was an altered man. He 
reformed his ways, went to church regularly, and 
fasted three times a week, though he would not eat 
fish even on fasting days, for after the fright he got, 
fish would never rest on his stomach. At length he 
left the army and turned hermit, and every day he 
prayed for the soul of the white trout. 


THE FORTY -NINE DRAGONS 


O NCE upon a time there were two brothers, 
the older of whom was rich and had four 
children, while the younger was poor and 
had seven children. At last the family of the poor 
brother was in such want that the mother went to 
the rich man and said: “ I am very wretched, for 
I am unable to provide my children with enough to 
eat. I take a little meal and mix it with a great 
deal of bran, and so manage to make bread. It is 
well nigh a year since my children have had any 
meat. They get nothing but the meal and bran 
bread.” 

“ And yet,” said he, “ your children are strong, 
while mine, in spite of plentiful and rich food, and 
other comforts, are always ailing.” 

“ Yes,” said the woman, “ though our lot is one 
of poverty and hunger, yet, thanks be to Heaven, 
our children are hale and hearty. But I fear for the 
future, and I have come to implore you, if you need 
to hire any work done, that you do not send for 


2l8 


THE FORTY -NINE DRAGONS 


any one but me; and may God bless you and give 
health to your children.” 

As she spoke these words the tears ran from her 
eyes, and the man called his wife and said to her: 
“ Here is our sister-in-law wanting work. Have 
we something for her to do so she may not sit idle? ” 

“ Yes,” answered his wife, “ let her come twice a 
week and knead bread for us.” 

When the poor woman heard these words she 
was. glad, for she thought that when she kneaded 
the fine white bread they would give her some of it, 
and her children would eat and rejoice. She rose 
to go away, and they said to her, “ Good-by, and 
remember to come tomorrow morning.” 

They let her depart without relieving her want 
by giving her a scrap of anything. As she set off 
toward home she said to herself: “ Would that I 
were rich and could go to my cupboard and bring 
out a bit of cheese, or a piece of bread, or a little rice, 
or other household store to gladden the hearts of 
the poor! ” 

Her children were eagerly awaiting her at home, 
but alas! she came with empty hands. 

The next day she went early to the rich man’s 
house to knead bread, and when she finished her 
task they bade her farewell and told her to be sure 


THE FORTY -NINE DRAGONS 219 

to come next time, but they gave her nothing what- 
ever. 

As soon as she returned home the children said, 
“ Have you brought us some food, mother? ” 

“ No,” she replied, “ but maybe they will send 
us a bit of bread when the baking is done.” 

However, she waited in vain. Two or three days 
later she got word that they wanted her to come and 
knead again. So she went to the rich man’s house 
and began her work. As she was kneading, the 
thought came into her head not to wash her hands 
until she reached home. Then she could give to the 
children the water in which she washed off the dough 
and flour. She hurried home as soon as she had done 
kneading, and said to her children, “ I am going to 
give you a little milk soup.” 

Then she washed her hands thoroughly, and 
divided the water among them, and they liked it so 
much they said, “ Mother, whenever you go to knead, 
be sure to bring us some of that broth to drink.” 

Twice a week she went to the rich man’s house 
to knead bread, and her children had never been 
more hearty and vigorous. One day the rich man was 
passing by his younger brother’s house, and he put 
his head in at the door and said, “ How do you do 
here? ” 


220 THE FORTY - NINE DRAGONS 

He looked at the children and was amazed to see 
how fat they were. That put him in a great rage, 
and he went home and called to his wife: “ Come at 
once, and tell me what you give to my sister-in-law, 
who does the kneading for us.” 

She was frightened by the way he shouted at her. 
“ I never give her anything,” she declared, “ because 
I am so afraid of giving her too much and then getting 
a scolding from you.” 

“ You must have given her something,” he per- 
sisted, “ for her children are so fat they look as if 
they would burst.” 

“ Well,” said his wife, “ she takes nothing away 
with her but her unwashed hands, and after she 
gets home she gives the water in which she washes 
her hands to the children to drink.” 

“ Then you must put a stop to that,” he ordered. 

So the next time, when the woman had finished 
kneading, the rich man’s wife said to her, “ Wash 
your hands and then go.” 

The poor woman obeyed with a sad heart, and 
quailed to think of returning home without being 
able to give her children even the milk soup wash 
to which they had become accustomed. As soon as 
she reached her house the children gathered about 
her, clamoring that she should make haste and give 


THE FORTY - NINE DRAGONS 


221 


them their usual treat; but she said, “ I washed my 
hands before I came away this time.” 

All the children began to weep and to say, “ How 
could you so forget us as not to bring us that beauti- 
ful broth? ” 

In the midst of the lamentations the father entered 
the house, and asked, “ What ails the children that 
they cry so noisily? ” 

She told him all that had happened, and he was 
much grieved. “ Perhaps I can find a little food on 
the mountain-side,” said he. “ I will take a bag and 
try to get some herbs and edible roots.” 

So away he went, and he wandered a long distance. 
At last he found himself on the top of a high crag 
and saw, not far away, a great castle. “ I wonder 
to whom that castle belongs,” said he. 

He went nearer and climbed into a tree to get 
a better view of it. While he was looking, behold, a 
number of dragons came out. He counted them, 
and there were forty-nine. They left the door open 
and went away out of sight. So he climbed down 
from the tree and went to the castle, where he walked 
about from room to room and saw that it contained 
a vast amount of treasure. Into his bag he put as 
much gold as he could carry and hurried away with 
it, fearful that the dragons would catch him. , 


222 


THE FORTY -NINE DRAGONS 


When they came back they perceived that some 
of their money was gone, and henceforth they de- 
termined that one of them should stay behind in the 
castle when the others went out. 

The man returned home and said to his wife: 
“ God has taken pity on us. See, here we have enough 
gold to make us rich,” and he opened his bag and 
showed her the golden money he had brought. 

On the following day he purchased a house and 
moved his family into it. “ But let us continue to 
live simply,” said he to his wife. “ We will buy what 
we need and avoid extravagance.” 

“ Yes,” said she, “ that is best. I do not forget 
how recently I have been glad to give the children 
milk soup to drink to save them from starving.” 

For two months they lived happily, and had plenty 
to eat, and gave generously to the poor. Then the 
wife of the older brother came to visit them, for she 
had heard that they were well off now. Her own 
family, on the contrary, had begun to suffer mis- 
fortune. Their sheep had died, their crops had failed, 
and unseasonable frosts had ruined their fruit trees. 

The wife of the younger brother did not feel any 
ill will toward her visitor because of the way she had 
been treated in the days of her misery, and she wel- 
comed her heartily, and gave her the best seat, and 





While he was looking a number of dragons came out 








































. 






THE FORTY -NINE DRAGONS 225 

set before her the choicest food in the house. This 
was very different from the treatment that had been 
accorded her, for the older brother’s wife used to 
receive her in the kitchen and never asked her to 
sit down. 

After some time the visitor said: “ Sister, pray 
tell me where your husband has found work, that my 
husband may if possible get work there also. We 
have been unfortunate of late and are in great want.” 

“ My husband has not got any employment,” 
responded the other. “ You remember when I was 
last at your house and you made me wash my hands. 
That day he went to the mountains and found 
a castle where he got a lot of gold.” 

“ Would he take my husband to that castle? ” 
asked the former rich woman. “ Perhaps we too 
may thus gain relief.” 

“ He will do what he can for you, I am sure,” 
said the other. “ If your husband will bring a bag 
tomorrow he will show him the way. He does not 
wish to get any more treasure for himself because 
he thinks we already have enough.” 

The next morning the older brother came with 
a bag under his arm and said: “Good morrow, 
brother, how do you do? I hope you are well.” 

Hitherto, if he saw his brother, he looked the 


226 THE FORTY - NINE DRAGONS 

other way, or turned aside, lest he should be asked 
for help. But the former poor man welcomed him 
and said: “ It gives me joy to have you enter my 
house, for I have very seldom had the pleasure of 
seeing you.” 

“ Things have gone badly with me,” said the 
older brother, “ and now I know not what to do.” 

“ Well,” said the other, “ we will go to the moun- 
tains, and very likely you will have the luck to get 
as rich as ever.” 

So they started off together, and when they came 
to where they could see the castle the younger 
brother showed his companion the tree from which 
he had watched the castle. “ Climb up among the 
branches,” said he, “ and wait till the dragons that 
dwell in the castle come out. Count them. If forty- 
nine come forth you can descend and enter the castle 
free from fear. But unless the entire forty-nine 
leave, do not go in.” 

With these words he turned his steps toward home. 
His brother watched eagerly from the tree, and by 
and by he saw the dragons coming forth, and he 
counted them. But he counted wrong, and instead 
of saying forty-eight he said forty-nine. Then he 
scrambled down from the tree, hurried to the castle, 
and looked about, seeking the treasure, that he might 


THE FORTY -NINE DRAGONS 


227 


fill his bag. Suddenly he heard a voice say, “ So 
you are the thief and have come back to steal more 
of our gold! ” 

He found himself confronted by a dragon that had 
come out of a near-by room where it had been staying 
on guard. Immediately it bit off his head, and took 
both the body and the head and hung them at the 
entrance to the castle. When the other dragons came 
home he said to them : “ There is no need to keep 
watch any longer. I have killed the thief and hung 
him up where he will serve as a warning to all other 
thieves that may approach our castle.” 

After that none of the dragons stayed at home, but 
each day they went out together. 

Two days passed, and the wife of the former rich 
man got uneasy because her husband did not return. 
She went to the house of her brother-in-law, and 
when she told him that her husband had not come 
back he said he would go and seek him. Off he went, 
and as soon as he drew near to the castle he climbed 
the tree and looked and saw his brother’s body hang- 
ing at the entrance. Then he waited till the dragons 
came out. He counted them with great care, and 
there were forty-nine. After they had gone from 
sight he went and got his brother’s body and put it 
in a bag that lay near the entrance. It was the very 


228 


THE FORTY -NINE DRAGONS 


bag his brother had brought to contain the gold he 
hoped to get. 

The younger brother carried his burden home and 
sent for his sister-in-law. When she came and saw 
her dead husband she wept and would not be com- 
forted. At last she said: “ We must get a tailor to 
sew him together. I cannot bury him like that, in 
two pieces.” 

So the man went out and got a tailor, who sewed 
the head on to the body, and afterward the burial 
took place. Then the younger brother gave his 
sister-in-law some money, and said, “ Go and provide 
for yourself and your children, and if you are in 
want again, do not hesitate to come and ask me for 
what you need.” 

Meanwhile the dragons had returned to their 
castle and found the dead man gone. “ So the thief 
had an accomplice! ” they exclaimed. “ We must 
destroy him also.” 

The chief dragon was a powerful magician, and 
the next day he assumed the form of a man, and went 
to the town to try to discover who had come to their 
castle and removed the body with its severed head. 
While he was loitering about, uncertain how to get 
the desired information, he concluded he would go 
to a tailor and have a suit of clothes made. T) e 


THE FORTY -NINE DRAGONS 


229 


tailor took his measure, and the dragon said : “ Now 
mind you sew the seams well so the stitches won’t 
come out. You must do a careful job, or I will not 
pay you. It’s not often I have a nice suit made, and 
I am particular. Use good strong thread and — ” 

“ Stop! ” cried the tailor with rising anger. 
“ There is no need for you to make such a fuss. Why, 
yesterday I had to sew together a dead man whose 
head had been separated from his body. His rela- 
tions were entirely satisfied with the way I did the 
difficult task. If I can do a job like that so well, 
in spite of the fact that it was out of my line, you 
can be assured I have the skill to make you a satis- 
factory suit. So have done with your advising, or 
you will drive me crazy.” 

“ Do you know the person who hired you to sew 
the dead man? ” asked the dragon. 

“ Of course I do,” answered the tailor. “ He lives 
near by. If you like, I will point out his house, and 
you can go in and ask him whether the body was 
well sewed or not.” 

So he took the dragon a little way along the street 
and showed him where the brother of the dead man 
dwelt. But instead of going into the house, the 
dragon went to a carpenter’s shop and ordered forty- 
chests, each just big enough to contain one of 


|eight 


230 


THE FORTY - NINE DRAGONS 


the dragons. When the chests were finished he had 
them sent to a lonely spot outside of the town, and 
thither he summoned his dragons. They got into 
the chests, and he hired wagons to bring the chests 
to the house of the dead man’s brother. He himself 
went on ahead, and toward evening he found the 
former poor man seated in his doorway. “ Sir,” 
said he, “ I have had forty-eight chests sent to me. 
You can see them coming down the street on those 
wagons. Would you be so kind as to let me leave 
them in your yard for the night? ” 

“ You are welcome to leave them there for the 
night,” said the man, “ and as much longer as suits 
your convenience.” 

After the wagons had been unloaded and the 
dragon chief had gone, the man’s children began 
climbing about and jumping on the chests. The 
dragons who were inside groaned from time to time, 
and said, “ Ah, would it were dark that we might eat 
them all.” 

Presently the children took notice of the groanings 
and the words, and they ran to their father and said: 
“ Those chests are bewitched. They are talking.” 

The man thought a moment and said, “ Forty- 
eight, and the one that brought them makes forty- 
nine! ” 


THE FORTY -NINE DRAGONS 231 

Then he went to the chests and put his ear to one 
of the keyholes. He heard the direful words and 
the groaning, and he said to himself, “ Now that I 
have you monsters in my power I’ll make sure of 
you.” 

So off he went and bought some iron rods, heated 
them red hot in his kitchen fire, and one by one thrust 
them into the chests until he had killed all the forty- 
eight dragons. That done, he called his servant, 
opened one of the chests, and said: “ My man, look 
here. Some one has played us a trick and put a 
dragon in this chest. If I had not killed the creature 
it would have devoured us all. Take it and throw 
it into the sea.” 

The servant lifted it on his back, went to the sea- 
shore, which was not far away, and threw the creature 
down where the rising tide would soon carry it away. 
Then he went home, but while he was gone his master 
had opened another chest. The man had his servant 
look in, and said: “ Here is the dragon. Surely you 
did not throw it far enough out into the sea, else 
how would it have returned? ” 

Again the servant carried a dragon to the shore, 
and once more returned to find what was apparently 
the same dead dragon. His master kept him going 
nearly all night, and when he made the trip with the 


232 


THE FORTY -NINE DRAGONS 


forty-eighth dragon he was so exasperated that he 
waded right into the sea and cast it out as far as 
he could. When he returned home, he said, “ Master, 
is it back? ” 

“ No,” the man answered, “ it has not come back. 
You must have thrown it in very deep.” 

Next morning the chief dragon came, and he was 
a good deal perturbed, because he had expected his 
dragons would destroy the family of the former poor 
man, and then join their chief before daylight at an 
appointed spot outside of the town. “ I find that one 
of your chests is open and empty,” the man informed 
the dragon. 

He led the way to the yard, and when the dragon 
bent over to look into the chest the man seized him 
and pushed him inside, slammed down the cover, 
and locked it. Then he ran for a red-hot iron, and 
soon the last of the dragons had perished. 

The castle among the mountains was now without 
an owner, and the man took possession of it and lived 
there as happy as a prince — and may whoever reads 
this story, or hears it read, live happier still. 


THE FOUR CLEVER 
BROTHERS 


T HERE was once a poor man who had four 
sons, and when they were grown up, he 
said to them: a Dear children, you must 
go out into the world now, for I have nothing to give 
you. It is my wish that you should each learn a 
trade by which you can gain a comfortable livelihood, 
if not wealth. ” 

So the four brothers took their walking-staffs in 
their hands, bid their father good-by, and tramped 
away down the street and passed out of the town 
gate. After they had traveled some distance, they 
came to where four roads branched away from the 
one they were tramping. “ Here we must part,” said 
the eldest brother, “ but four years from this day 
we will meet here again, and tell each other what we 
have accomplished.” 

Then each went his own way, and the eldest 
presently met a man, who asked him where he was 
going and what he intended to do. 


234 THE FOUR CLEVER BROTHERS 

“ I want to learn a trade,” the youth answered. 

“ Then come with me and learn to be a thief,” 
said the man. 

“ No,” responded the youth, “ that is no longer 
considered an honorable employment; and in the 
end I should swing as the clapper in the field 
bell.” 

“ Oh, you need not fear the gallows!” said the 
man. “ I will only teach you how to take things 
that no one else wants or knows how to get hold of, 
and I will make you so expert that nobody can find 
you out.” 

So the youth allowed himself to be persuaded, and 
he became, under the man’s instruction, such a clever 
thief that nothing was safe from him which he had 
once made up his mind to have. 

Meanwhile the second brother had met a man who 
put the same question to him as to whither he was 
going and what he intended to do. 

“ I don’t know yet,” answered the youth. 

“ Then come with me and be a star-gazer,” the 
man advised. “ It is the grandest trade in the world, 
for you gain the power to see everything.” 

The youth was pleased with the idea, and he be- 
came such an expert star-gazer that, when he finished 
his apprenticeship, his master gave him a telescope, 


THE FOUR .CLEVER BROTHERS 235 

and said, “ With this you can see all that happens in 
the sky and on the earth, and nothing can remain 
hidden from you.” 

The third brother was taken in hand by a huntsman, 
and received such instruction in the art of shooting 
that he became a first-rate marksman. When he had 
learned all there was to learn and was ready to de- 
part, his master presented him with a gun, and said, 
“ Whatever you aim at with this gun you will hit 
without fail.” 

The youngest brother met a man who asked him 
if he would like to be a tailor. 

“ I don’t know about that,” said the youth. “ I 
haven’t much fancy for sitting cross-legged from 
morning till night, and everlastingly pulling a needle 
in and out.” 

“ There, there! ” said the man, “ you don’t know 
what you are talking about. You will find that tailor- 
ing as I teach it is easy. It will be pleasant to you and 
win you honor.” 

The youth allowed himself to be persuaded, and 
went with the man, who taught him tailoring very 
thoroughly. At length the time came for him to de- 
part, and his master gave him a needle and said, 
“ With that you will be able to stitch anything, even 
a thing as tender as an eggshell, or one as hard as 


236 THE FOUR CLEVER BROTHERS 

steel, and no seam will be visible after you are 
through.” 

On the very day that the four years agreed on came 
to an end the four brothers met at the place where 
they had parted, and after embracing each other they 
hurried home to their father. 

“ Well,” said he, quite pleased to see them, “ so 
the wind has blown you back to me.” 

They sat under a big tree in the yard and told 
him all that had happened to them. When they 
finished, their father said, “ Now I will put your 
accomplishments to the test, and see what you can 
do.” 

He looked up into the tree and said to his second 
son: “There is a chaffinch’s nest up there on the 
topmost branch. Tell me how many eggs there are 
in it.” 

The star-gazer took his telescope, looked through 
it, and said, “ There are five.” 

“ Fetch the eggs down,” said the father to his 
eldest son, “ and be careful not to disturb the mother 
bird, who is sitting on them.” 

The cunning thief climbed the tree, and removed 
the five eggs from underneath the bird so deftly that 
she never noticed what he had done, and he brought 
them down to his father. The father took them and 


THE FOUR CLEVER BROTHERS 237 

put one on each corner of a table, and the fifth 
in the middle, and said to the huntsman, “ You must 
cut all those eggs in half at one shot.” 

The huntsman aimed and divided each egg in half 
at one shot, as his father desired. He certainly must 
have had some of the powder that shoots round a 
corner. The eggs had little birds in them, and the 
neck of each had been severed by the bullet. 

“ Now it is your turn,” said the father to the 
fourth son. “ I expect you to sew the birds and the 
shells together so they will be none the worse for that 
shot.” 

The tailor produced his needle, and stitched away 
as his father had desired. When he finished the 
task, the thief climbed the tree with the eggs, and 
put them back under the bird without her perceiving 
him. The bird continued to sit on the eggs, and a 
few days later the fledgelings crept out of the shells. 
Each had a red streak round its neck where the tailor 
had sewn them together, but were none the worse 
otherwise. 

“ I can certainly praise your skill,” said the father 
to his sons. “ You have used your time well while you 
have been away, and you have all acquired very 
useful knowledge.” 

Not long after this a great lamentation was made 


238 THE FOUR CLEVER BROTHERS 

in the country because the king’s daughter had been 
carried away by a dragon. The king was overcome 
by grief and sorrowed for her day and night, and he 
had it proclaimed that whoever rescued the princess 
should have her for his wife. 

The four brothers said to one another, “ This will 
be an opportunity for us to show what we can do;” 
and they agreed to sally forth together to deliver the 
princess. 

“ I will soon discover where she is,” said the star- 
gazer. 

He looked through his telescope, and said : 
“ I see her already. She is a long way from here, 
sitting on a rock in the middle of the sea, and the 
dragon is there watching her.” 

Then they went to the king, who, at their request, 
furnished them with a ship, in which they sailed 
away over the sea till they approached the rock. 
The princess was sitting there, and the dragon was 
asleep with his head on her lap. 

“ I dare not shoot,” said the hunter, “ for fear 
I should kill the princess as well as the dragon.” 

“ Then I will try my luck,” said the thief, and 
he rowed a boat to the rock and took the princess 
away so lightly and stealthily that the monster 
continued to sleep and snore. 


THE FOUR CLEVER BROTHERS 239 

The thief got the princess safely on board the 
ship, and, full of joy, the brothers spread the sails 
to the wind, and steered for the open sea. But the 
dragon soon awoke, and when he realized that the 
princess was gone, he started in pursuit of the ship, 



flapping through the air at his best speed, snapping 
his tail savagely, and foaming at the mouth with 
rage. Just as he was hovering over the ship about 
to plunge down on it, the huntsman took aim with 
his unerring gun and shot the dragon through the 
heart. The monster was killed instantly, but his 
huge body fell on the ship and smashed it to pieces. 

The brothers and the princess managed each to 


240 THE FOUR CLEVER BROTHERS 

grasp a plank and thus kept themselves afloat. 
They were in great straits, but the tailor was equal 
to the emergency. With his wonderful needle he 
sewed together the planks on which he and his 
companions were sustaining themselves, and then 
they paddled about and collected all the other float- 
ing fragments of the ship. The tailor stitched 
them together so cleverly that in a short time the 
ship was seaworthy once more, and they sailed 
happily home. 

When the king saw his dear daughter again, he 
was very glad, and said to the four brothers, “ One 
of you shall marry her, but you must settle among 
yourselves which one that shall be.” 

They discussed the matter with a good deal of 
warmth, for each pressed his own claims. The star- 
gazer said: “ Had I not discovered the princess all 
your doings would have been in vain. Therefore, 
she is mine.” 

The thief said : “ What would have been the good 
of discovering her if I had not stolen her away from 
the dragon? So she is mine.” 

The huntsman said : “ But you all would have been 
destroyed by the monster had not my ball reached 
his heart. So she must be mine.” 

“ That is all very fine,” said the tailor, “ but if 


THE FOUR CLEVER BROTHERS 241 


it had not been for my sewing the wreck together, 
you would all have been miserably drowned. There- 
fore the princess is mine.” 

When they had all voiced their claims to the prin- 
cess, the king said: “ Each of you is equally entitled 
to her, but since you cannot all have her, none of 
you shall have her. Instead, I will reward you 
each with half a province.” 

The brothers were quite satisfied with this decis- 
ion, and said, “ It is better so than that we should 
quarrel.” 

So each of them received half a province, and they 
lived happily in the home of their father the rest 
of their days. 


THE YOUTH WITHOUT FEAR 


T HERE was once a father who had two sons. 

One was ambitious, and sensible, and clever 
enough to do almost anything. But the 
younger one was so stupid he made no progress at all. 
When people saw how useless he was, they said, 
“ His father will have plenty of trouble with him.” 

If there was any task that needed doing, it fell to 
the lot of the elder son, who never failed to do his 
work faithfully and well, unless his father asked him 
to fetch something in the evening after dark. Then, 
if the errand would compel him to pass through the 
churchyard or along a dismal stretch of roadway, 
he would say: “ Oh no, father, I cannot go! I am 
afraid. It would make me shiver and shake.” 

Occasionally when the household gathered around 
the fire after supper, with very likely the company 
of a neighbor or two, some one would tell a ghost 
story which would cause the listeners’ flesh to creep, 
and they would exclaim, “ How you make me 
shiver! ” 


THE YOUTH WITHOUT FEAR 


243 

The youngest son, however, as he sat in the corner 
and heard these exclamations, could not imagine 
what was meant. “ There’s something queer about 
it,” said he. “They say: ‘It makes me shiver! 
It makes me shiver! ’ But it doesn’t make me shiver 
a bit. Shivering is an accomplishment I don’t under- 
stand.” 

One day his father said to him, “ Listen, you lad 
in the corner there, you are growing big and strong. 
You must learn some trade by which to get a living. 
See how your brother works, but you are not worth 
your salt.” 

“ Well, father,” he responded, “ I am quite ready 
to learn something. With what shall I begin ? I 
would very much like to learn how to shiver and 
shake, for about that I know nothing.” 

The elder son laughed when he heard him speak 
thus. “Good heavens!” he thought, “what a 
simpleton my brother is! He will never be good for 
anything as long as he lives.” 

His father sighed and said, “ What shivering means 
you may learn easily enough, but such knowledge 
will not help you any in getting your bread.” 

Soon afterward the sexton called at the house, 
and the father confided to him his anxiety about his 
younger son. “ It is quite evident,” said he, “ that 


244 THE YOUTH WITHOUT FEAR 

the lad will never be any credit to us. Would you 
believe that when I asked him how he was going to 
earn his living, he said he would like to learn to 
shiver and shake? ” 

“ If that’s what he wants to learn,” said the sex- 
ton, “ we can easily gratify him. I can teach him 
that myself. Just let him serve me for a while and 
I’ll put the polish on him.” 

The father was pleased, for he thought, “ Anyhow 
the lad will gain something by the experience.” 

So the sexton took the youth home with him, 
and he had to ring the church bells. A few days 
passed, and the sexton woke him at midnight and 
told him to get up and go to the church tower to ring 
the bells. “ You shall soon be taught how to shiver 
and shake,” thought the sexton as he hastened to the 
belfry ahead of the lad, and crept stealthily up the 
stairs. 

The youth arrived a few minutes later and stum- 
bled along up the stairway in the darkness. He was 
about to grasp the bell rope when he observed a white 
figure standing at the head of the stairs. “ Who is 
there? ” he called out, but the figure neither stirred 
nor spoke. 

“ Answer! ” cried the lad, “ or get out of the way. 
You have no business here in the night.” 


THE YOUTH WITHOUT FEAR 245 

But the sexton wanted the boy to think he was a 
ghost, and he did not stir. 

The lad called out a second time: “ What do you 
want here? Speak, if you are an honest fellow, or 
I’ll throw you down the stairs.” 

“ He never would dare undertake such a thing,” 
thought the sexton. So he made no sound and stood 
as still as if he were made of stone. 

Once more the lad threatened the shrouded figure, 
and as he got no answer he sprang forward and 
threw the ghost down the stairs. The apparition 
bumped along down the steps and lay motionless 
in a corner. Then the lad rang the bells, walked 
home, and without saying a word to anybody went 
to bed. Soon he was fast asleep. 

The sexton’s wife waited a long time for her hus- 
band, but he did not come, and at last she became 
anxious and woke up the lad. “ Do you know what 
has become of my husband?” she asked. “He 
went up into the church tower in front of you.” 

“ No,” answered the lad; “ but there was some- 
body standing at the head of the stairs in the belfry, 
and as he would neither reply nor go away, I thought 
he was a rogue and I threw him downstairs. Go and 
see if he was your husband. I should be sorry if he 
was.” 


246 THE YOUTH WITHOUT FEAR 

The woman hurried away and found the sexton 
moaning with a broken leg. She carried him home, 
and the first thing in the morning hastened with 
loud cries to the lad’s father. “ Your son has 
brought a great misfortune on us,” she said. “ He 
has thrown my husband downstairs and broken his 
leg. Take the good-for-nothing wretch away out 
of our house.” 

The father was horrified. He went back with her 
and gave the lad a good scolding. “ What is the mean- 
ing of this inhuman prank?” he said. “The evil 
one must have put it into your head.” 

“ Father,” responded the lad, “ I am quite inno- 
cent. He stood there in the dark like a man with some 
wicked purpose. I did not know who he was, and 
I warned him three times to speak or to go away.” 

“ Alas! ” said his father, “ you bring me nothing 
but disaster. Get out of my sight. I will have 
nothing more to do with you.” 

“ To travel elsewhere is just what I wish,” said 
the lad, “ for I hope that will lead to my learning how 
to shiver and shake. I want at least to have that 
accomplishment to my credit.” 

“ Learn what you like,” said his father. “ It’s 
all the same to me. Here are fifty silver pieces for 
you. Go out into the world, but tell no one whence 


THE YOUTH WITHOUT FEAR 247 

you come, or who your father is, for you would only 
bring me to shame.” 

“ Just as you please, father,” said the lad. “ If 
that is all you want I can easily fulfil your desired’ 
So the lad put his fifty silver pieces into his pocket 
and betook himself to the highroad. As he tramped 
along he said over and over, “ Oh that I could learn 
to shiver! Oh that I could learn to shake! ” 

A man overtook him and heard the words he was 
saying. They went on together till they came to a 
gallows whereon seven men were hanging. “ Sit 
down here,” said the man, “ and when night comes 
you will learn to shiver and shake.” 

“ If nothing more than that is needed,” said the 
lad, “ I shall be well pleased; and I promise you, 
in case I learn to shiver so speedily, that you shall 
have the fifty silver pieces now in my pocket. Come 
back to me early tomorrow morning.” 

Then the lad sat down beside the gallows. It 
grew cold after sundown, and a sharp wind blew 
and made the bodies on the gallows swing back and 
forth with a dismal creaking of the ropes by which 
they were suspended. “Poor fellows!” said the 
lad, “ I am none too warm down here in a sheltered 
nook on the ground, and you must have a chilly 
time of it up aloft there.” 


248 THE YOUTH WITHOUT FEAR 


Then he curled up and went to sleep. Next morn- 
ing the man who had been his companion on the 
day before came and said, “ Well, I suppose you 
know now what shivering means.” 

“ No,” said the lad, “ how could I learn it? Those 
fellows on the gallows never opened their mouths.” 

The man saw that he would get no silver pieces, 
and he went away, saying, “ Never before in my life 
did I meet such a person as that.” 

Soon afterward the lad resumed his travels, and 
again began saying to himself: “ Oh that I could 
learn to shiver! Oh that I could learn to shake! ” 

A carter, who chanced to be on the road, heard 
his plaint, and asked, “ Who are you? ” 

“ I don’t know,” said the youth. 

“ Who is your father? ” the carter questioned. 

“ That I must not say,” was the lad’s response. 

“ What is it you are grumbling about to yourself 
as you walk along? ” the carter inquired. 

“ Ah,” said the youth, “ I wish to learn what 
shivering is, but no one can teach me.” 

“ Nonsense!” said the carter. “ Just you come 
with me and I’ll see that your desire is gratified.” 

So the youth went with the carter, and in the 
evening they reached an inn and arranged to stay 
there for the night. “ Oh that I could learn to, 


THE YOUTH WITHOUT FEAR 249 

shiver! Oh that I could learn to shake! ” sighed the 
youth as he sat down to wait for supper. 

The landlord laughed, and said, “ If that’s what 
you want, you can have plenty of opportunity for 
learning here.” 

“ Hold your tongue,” said the landlady. “ Many 
an imprudent fellow has paid the penalty for his curi- 
osity with his life already. It would be a sin and 
a shame not to have this stranger’s bright eyes 
see the light of day again.” 

But the youth said: “However difficult it may 
be to learn what shivering is, the lesson is one I am 
eager to learn. I left my home to seek such knowl- 
edge.” 

He would not be put off with evasions, and at 
last the landlord told him that not far distant stood 
an enchanted castle, and that any one who stayed 
there over night would surely learn to shiver. More- 
over, the king had promised his daughter in marriage 
to the man who would spend three nights in the 
castle, and every one said she was the most beautiful 
young lady the sun ever shone on. Such a vigil 
would break the spell that was on the castle, and he 
who accomplished this would become master of a 
great treasure hidden there and guarded by evil 
spirits. But many, aspiring to win the princess and 


250 THE YOUTH WITHOUT FEAR 

the treasure and the renown, had gone into the castle, 
and not one had ever come out. 

The next morning the youth went to the king, and 
said, “ By your leave, I would like to pass three 
nights in the enchanted castle. ” 

His request was granted, though with some re- 
luctance, for the king took a fancy to the lad, and 
was sorry to think of his probable fate. 

When night came, the youth went to the castle, 
made a bright fire in one of the rooms, and sat down 
beside it. “ Oh, if I could only shiver! ” said he, “ but 
I doubt if I can learn how even here.” 

At midnight he got up from where he was sitting 
and freshened the fire. Suddenly some creatures in 
a corner of the room began to shriek, “ Mew, mew! 
how cold we are! ” 

“Simpletons!” he exclaimed, “what are you 
screeching for? If you are cold, come and warm 
yourselves by the fire.” 

Immediately two big black cats sprang forth 
from the gloomy corner and sat down one on each 
side of him. They stared at him with wild, fiery 
eyes until they had warmed themselves, and then 
said, “ Comrade, shall we have a game of cards?” 

“ Certainly,” he replied, “ but show me your paws 
first.” 


THE YOUTH WITHOUT FEAR 251 

They each lifted a front foot and stretched out 
their claws. 

“ Why,” said he, “ what long nails youVe got! 
Wait a bit. I must cut them for you.” 

He picked up a sword he had brought with him, 
but instead of cutting their nails he seized each 
cat in turn by the scruff of the neck and killed it by 
thrusting his sword through its body. That done, 
he dragged them to a window and heaved them out. 
But no sooner had he got rid of these cats and was 
about to sit down by his fire again than crowds of 
dogs, all jet black, swarmed out of every nook and 
corner of the room. They howled horribly and tram- 
pled on his fire, and tried to put it out. 

For a time he looked quietly on, but at last he 
got angry, took up his sword, and cried, “ You ras- 
cally pack, away with you! ” and he let fly among 
them right and left. Some of them escaped, and the 
rest he struck dead and threw out of the window. 

When he finished, he returned to the fire, scraped 
the embers together, and set it to blazing. At the 
far side of the room was a big bed, and he went and 
lay down on it, intending to sleep the remainder of 
the night. But just as he was closing his eyes the 
bed began to move. It crossed the room, went out 
at a door, and soon was tearing round and round 


252 THE YOUTH WITHOUT FEAR 

the castle. “Very good,” he said, “ the faster the 

better! ” 

The bed careered along as if it were drawn by six 
horses. Sometimes it was in the castle, sometimes 
outside, and the way it jolted over the thresholds 



and jigged up and down the stairs was very surpri- 
sing, to say the least. Suddenly it went hop, hop, 
hop, with more violence than ever, and turned topsy- 
turvy so that it lay on the lad like a mountain. But 
he pitched the pillows and blankets into the air, and 
soon he had disencumbered himself and got on his 
feet. “ Now some one else may ride,” said he, and 


THE YOUTH WITHOUT FEAR 


253 

he made his way back to his lire and lay down on the 
hearth and went to sleep. 

In the morning the king came to the castle and 
found the youth stretched out on the floor. He 
thought the ghosts had killed him, and he said, “ It 
is a pity that such a vigorous, handsome fellow should 
thus perish. ” 

But the youth heard him and sat up, saying, “ It 
has not come to that yet.” 

The king was much surprised, and asked him how 
he had fared. 

“ Very well,” he answered. “ One night is gone, 
and I expect to get safely through the others.” 

Presently he returned to the inn. The landlord 
opened his eyes when he saw him, and said: “ I 
never thought to behold you alive again. Have you 
learned how to shiver yet? ” 

“ No,” replied the lad, “ it’s all in vain.” 

The second night he went again to the castle, 
started a fire, and sat down by it and began his old 
song, “ Oh if I could only learn to shiver! ” 

At midnight he commenced to hear a ringing, 
rattling noise, first soft, but increasing till there was 
a great uproar. Then there was a sudden silence. 
At last, with a loud scream, half a man’s body came 
tumbling down the chimney and rolled out on the 


254 THE YOUTH WITHOUT FEAR 

floor in front of the lad. “ Hello! ” he said, “ here 
is only half a man. This is not enough.” 

The rattling and ringing were renewed, and soon, 
amidst shrieks and howls, the other half fell down. 

“ Wait a moment,” said the youth, “ and I’ll 
poke up the fire.” 

When this was done, and he looked around, the 
two halves had joined themselves together, and a 
hideous man sat on the bench. “ We didn’t bargain 
for that,” said the lad. “ The bench is mine.” 

He went to sit down, and the man tried to push 
him out of the way. Then the youth became angry 
and flung the man aside and sat down in his usual 
seat. Presently more men fell down the chimnby, 
one after the other, and they fetched with them nine 
thigh bones and two skulls, and began to play skittles. 
The youth felt inclined to join in the sport, and he 
called out, “ I say, can I play too? ” 

“ Certainly,” said they. 

“Then here goes!” he cried. “The more, the 
merrier! ” 

He played with them till ten o’clock, when they 
disappeared. So he lay down, and soon was fast 
asleep. 

Next morning the king again came to see him, and 
said, “ Well, how did you get on this time?” 


THE YOUTH WITHOUT FEAR 255 

“ I have been playing skittles,” he answered. 

“ Didn’t you learn to shiver? ” the king asked. 

“ Not I,” he responded. “ I only made merry.” 

On the third night he once more was in the en- 
chanted castle sitting on his bench by the fire. 
“ Oh, if I could only learn to shiver!” he said, in 
great vexation. 

When it grew late, six tall men came in carrying 
a coffin. “ Hello there! ” said he, “ set down your 
burden and make yourselves comfortable.” 

They put the coffin on the floor and he went to 
it and removed the lid. Inside lay a man. He felt 
of the man’s hands and face. They were as cold as 
ice. “ I will soon see whether there is any life left in 
you,” said he, and he picked up the man and sat down 
with him close by the fire and rubbed his arms to 
make the blood circulate. 

After a time the man grew warm and began to 
move. “ There,” said the youth, “ you see I have 
got you warmed at last.” 

But the man rose up and cried, “ Now I will 
strangle you ! ” 

“ What! ” exclaimed the youth, “ is that all the 
thanks I get? Back you go into your coffin then.” 

So saying, he grasped him, threw him in, and 
fastened down the lid. Then the six men carried 


256 THE YOUTH WITHOUT FEAR 

the coffin away. “ Oh, deary me! ” sighed the youth, 
“ I shall never learn to shiver if I stop here all my 
life.” • 

Just then a huge man entered the room. He was 
frightful to look at, and he was very old, with a 
long white beard. “ You miserable wretch !” he 
cried, “ now you shall learn what shivering is, for 
you shall die.” 

“ Not so fast,” said the youth. “ If I am to die, 
some one must kill me.” 

“ I will make short work of you,” declared the old 
monster. 

“ Softly, softly! ” said the lad. “ Don’t boast. 
Very likely I am stronger than you are.” 

“ We shall see about that,” said the old man. 
“ Come with me.” 

Then he led the way through numberless dark 
passages to a smithy, took a sledge hammer, and 
with one blow struck an anvil down into the earth 
so it was nearly buried out of sight. 

“ I can better that,” affirmed the youth, and he 
went to another anvil, took an ax, and with one 
blow split the anvil half in two. 

The old man had come so near to watch that his 
beard had dropped down on the anvil, and it was 
wedged into the crevice by the blow of the ax. “ Now 


THE YOUTH WITHOUT FEAR 257 

I have you,” said the youth, “ and you will be the 
one to die.” 

Then he seized an iron rod and belabored the old 
man till the sufferer shrieked for mercy and promised 
him great riches if he would stop. So the lad pulled 
out the ax, and the released captive led the way back 
into the castle and showed the youth three chests 
of gold in the cellar. “ One is for the poor,” he 
said, “ one is for the king, and one is for you.” 

The clock struck twelve just as the old man 
finished speaking, and he disappeared and left the 
youth alone in the dense darkness of the cellar. “ I 
must manage to get out somehow,” said the lad, and 
he groped about till he found his way back to the 
room where he had his fire. There he lay down and 
went to sleep. 

Next morning the king came and said, “ Surely 
you have now learned to shiver.” 

“ No,” said the youth, “ a coffin was brought to me 
containing a man who was nearly frozen, and when 
I revived him he wanted to strangle me. Afterward, 
an old man came who wanted to kill me, but I got 
the better of him, and he showed me a lot of gold. 
However, no one can show me what shivering 
means.” 

Then the king said, “ You have broken the spell 


258 THE YOUTH WITHOUT FEAR 

on the castle, and you shall be made a prince and 
marry my daughter.” 

“ That is all very fine,” said the youth, “ but still 
I don’t know what shivering is.” 

The gold was brought out from the castle cellar, 
and the marriage was celebrated; but happy as 
the youth now was, and much as he loved his bride, 
there yet remained one cause for discontent, and 
he was always saying: “ Oh that I could learn to 
shiver! Oh that I could learn to shake! ” 

This became quite a source of vexation to his 
wife as time went on, and at last her waiting-woman 
said, “ I will help you to teach him the meaning of 
shivering.” 

She went out to a brook that ran through the 
garden, and got a pail of cold water full df little 
fishes. At night, when the prince was asleep, his 
wife took off the coverings and poured the cold water 
over him, and the little fishes flopped all about him. 
Then he woke up and cried, “ .Oh, how 1 am shiver- 
ing, dear wife, how I am shivering ! Now I know what 
shivering is! ” 


THE WONDERFUL TURNIP 


T HERE were once two brothers who were 
soldiers, and one had become an officer 
and grown rich. The other remained a 
common soldier and was poor. At last the poor one, 
with the hope to improve his fortune, took off his 
soldiering coat and became a farmer. Hs ploughed 
a small field and sowed turnip seed. The seed came 
up, and the farmer soon observed that one turnip was 
growing much faster than any of the others. It 
grew till he thought it would never get done growing, 
and at the end of the season, when he uprooted it, 
that one turnip filled a cart and required two oxen 
to draw it. Truly it was the queen of turnips, and 
its like had never been seen before, nor ever will be 
again. The farmer knew not what to do with it, 
and was uncertain whether it would bring good for- 
tune or bad. 

“ If I sold it I should not get much money for it,” 
said he. “ As for eating it, the ordinary turnips 
would do as well for that. I think I will take it to 
the king.” 


26 o 


THE WONDERFUL TURNIP 


So away he went, with oxen dragging the cart 
that contained the turnip, and in due time he arrived 
at .court and presented the turnip to the king. 

“ What an extraordinary object! ” the king ex- 
claimed. “ I have, seen many marvels, but never 
anything so remarkable as this. You must be a 



child of good luck, whether you raised this turnip 
from seed or found it full grown.” 

“ Oh no! ” said the farmer, “ lucky I certainly 
am not. For many years I was a poor soldier, but 
recently I hung my uniform on a nail, and now I 
till the earth. I have a brother who is rich and well 
known to you, my lord king; but I, because I have 
nothing, am forgotten by all the world.” 


THE WONDERFUL TURNIP 


261 


Thereupon the king pitied him and said, “ You 
shall be poor no longer; ” and he presented him with 
gold, land, flocks, and herds that made him richer 
than his brother. 

When the brother heard what had happened he 
was envious and pondered how he might gain a like 
treasure for himself. Presently he took jewels and 
swift horses and gave them to the king. “ If my 
brother got so much for a single turnip,” thought he, 
“ what will I not get for these beautiful things?” 

The king received the present very graciously 
and told the soldier he could give him in return 
nothing rarer or better than the magnificent turnip. 

So the wealthy soldier was obliged to hire a cart, 
and have the turnip taken to his home. He ar- 
rived there full of wrath and bitterness. The more 
he thought on the matter the worse he felt, and at 
length he formed the evil design of having his brother 
killed. He hired two ruffians, who waylaid the former 
poor soldier as he was passing through a wood. They 
seized and bound him and prepared to hang him 
on a tree. But before they had accomplished their 
purpose they heard an approaching clatter of hoofs 
and the sound of singing. That frightened them so 
much that they thrust their prisoner head first into 
a sack, attached a rope to it, threw the end of the 


262 


THE WONDERFUL TURNIP 


rope over a branch of an oak and hauled him well 
up into the tree. Then they took to flight. 

The prisoner soon contrived to work a hole in the 
sack, and stuck his head out. Then he perceived that 
the noisewhich had saved him was made by a student, 
a young fellow who was riding through the wood 
singing snatches of song as he went along. Just as 
the student was passing the tree, the man called out: 
“ Good day. You come in the nick of time.” 

The youth stopped his horse and looked all 
round, but could not make out where the voice came 
from. At last he said, “ Who calls? ” 

“ Raise your eyes,” said the man. “ I am sitting 
up here in the Sack of Knowledge, and in a short 
time I have learned so much that the wisdom of the 
schools is as air compared to mine. Soon I shall 
have learned everything, and I shall come down and 
be the wisest of mankind. I understand astronomy 
and the blowing of the winds and the art of healing 
the sick, and I know every herb and all the birds 
and stones. If you were here in my place you would 
feel what splendor flows from the Sack of Knowl- 
edge.” 

All this greatly astonished and impressed the stu- 
dent, and he said: “ Blessed be the hour in which I 
met you ! Let me get into the sack for a little while.” 


THE WONDERFUL TURNIP 263 

u Well,” said the other with apparent reluctance, 
“ that you may do if you will wait for a short time 
till I am ready. There is one piece of learning which 
I have not yet fully mastered.” 

So the student waited, but he soon became im- 
patient and entreated to be allowed to get into the 
sack at once and satisfy his great thirst for knowledge. 
Then the man pretended to take pity on him and 
told him to lower the sack to the ground and open 
the mouth of it. That done, the farmer got out, 
and the student started to get in, feet first, saying, 
“ I want you to make haste and pull me up as fast 
as possible.” 

“ Stop, stop! ” cried the man. “ That won’t do.” 

Then he laid hold of the student by the shoulders 
and thrust him into the sack head downward, tied 
it up, and swung the disciple of wisdom up on the 
bough of the tree. When the student was dangling 
up aloft in the air, the man said: “ How do you feel 
now, my dear fellow? Do you find that wisdom 
comes with experience? Stay there quietly till you 
become wiser.” 

Thereupon he mounted the student’s horse and 
rode off; but an hour later he sent some one to 
release the prisoner in the sack. 


THE ENCHANTED DOVE 


A POOR maidservant was once traveling with 
her master’s family in a coach through a great 
wood. When they were in the very middle 
of the wood, a band of robbers sprang out of a thicket 
and killed every one of the travelers that they could 
lay their hands on. Only the maidservant escaped. 
She, in her fright, jumped out of the coach and hid 
behind a tree. 

When the robbers had made off with their booty 
she came from her place of concealment and wept 
as she saw what had happened. “Alas!” she 
cried, “ here I am left alone in this wild forest. I 
can never find my way out, and not a human 
creature lives in it, so that I shall certainly die of 
hunger.” 

She wandered about for some time looking for 
a pathway, but could not find one. Evening came, 
and she sat down under a tree and made up her 
mind to spend the night there, no matter what might 


THE ENCHANTED DOVE 265 

happen. But soon a little white dove came flying 
to her with a small golden key in its beak. It put 
the key in the girl’s hand, and said: “Examine 
closely the bark of the tree-trunk you are leaning 
against, and you will find a lock which this key will 
fit. Turn the key in that lock, and a door will 
open and reveal a cupboard in which is food and 
drink. Take all you need.” 

The girl examined the tree, found the lock, and 
opened the door, and inside was a basin of milk, 
and some white bread to eat with it. So she made 
a good meal. When she finished, she said to herself: 
“ At home the hens are going to roost now. Oh, 
that I had some shelter for the night! ” 

Then the little dove again came flying to her with 
another golden key in its beak, and it said, “ This 
will open a door in yonder tree, within which you will 
find a nice bed.” 

She opened the door and found a soft, clean bed 
inside, and she lay down in it and went to sleep. 
Next morning the dove came a third time and brought 
her a key. This opened a door in another large tree 
near by, and there she found many beautiful gar- 
ments embroidered with gold and silver, and orna- 
mented with precious stones. No princess could 
have desired anything finer. 


266 


THE ENCHANTED DOVE 


For a long time the maid dwelt there in the forest, 
and the dove visited her every day and supplied 



One day the dove came to her and said, “ Will you 
do something for my sake? ” 

“ With all my heart,” replied the maiden. 


THE ENCHANTED DOVE 267 

Then the dove said: “ I will take you to a little 
house, which you must enter. By the hearth you 
will see an old woman sitting. She will bid you good 
day, but on no account speak a word to her, whatever 
she may say or do. Walk right past her, and at the 
far side of the fireplace you will see a door. Open it 
and go into the room beyond. There, on a table, 
you will find a heap of rings of every description. 
Many of them are very beautiful and glitter with 
precious stones, but take none of those. Instead, 
search for a small plain one, which is somewhere 
in the room. After you secure it, bring it to me as 
quickly as you can.” 

So the dove guided the maiden to the little house, 
and she opened the door and saw the old woman, who 
stared and said, “ Good day, my child.” 

The maiden did not answer, but went on toward 
the inner door. “ Whither are you going? ” cried 
the old woman, seizing her by the skirt. “ This is 
my house, and no one shall pass through that door 
without my permission.” 

But the girl said never a word. She loosened her 
skirt from the woman’s grasp and went into the room 
beyond the fireplace. On a table lay a glittering 
heap of jeweled rings. She searched among them 
for the plain one, but could not find it. While she 


268 


THE ENCHANTED DOVE 


continued her search, the old woman slipped into 
the room and took up a bird cage, with which she 
started to slyly creep away. Her actions aroused the 
suspicions of the maiden, who ran after her and 
wrenched the cage out of her hands. 

Then|the girl saw that the bird inside held the plain 
ring in its beak. She took the ring and ran joyfully out 
of the house, thinking she would find the dove close 
at hand waiting for her, but no dove appeared. Anx- 
ious and fearful, she leaned against a tree, watching 
for the coming of the bird. As she stood there it 
seemed to her that the tree became soft and supple 
and bent its branches downward. Then two of the 
branches twined themselves around her, and behold, 
when she tried to free herself, they were not branches 
at all, but two strong arms. She looked up, and the 
tree was gone, and in its stead was a fine handsome 
man with his arms clasped about her. 

“ You have released me from the power of the 
old woman, who is an evil witch,” said he. “ She 
changed me into a tree a long time ago, but every day 
I became a white dove for a couple of hours. So 
long as she possessed the ring I could not regain my 
human form. I am a king’s son, and I came hither 
accompanied by servants and horses, who were like- 
wise changed into trees. But now you see them 


THE ENCHANTED DOVE 269 

around me in their natural forms, and you must 
come with us to my father’s kingdom.” 

When they reached their journey’s end the prince 
and the maiden married, and they lived happily 
ever after. 


THE THREE WISHES 


O NCE upon a time there lived a poor wood- 
man in a great forest, and every morning his 
wife filled a basket with food and a bottle 
with drink for his lunch, and, laden with this lunch 
and his ax, he went off to be gone till evening cutting 
timber. One day he was about to fell a huge oak 
which he thought would furnish many a good plank. 
He had his ax raised for the first blow when he heard 
a pitiful entreating, and there stood before him a 
little fairy, who beseeched him to spare the tree. 

So dazed was he with wonder that for a while 
he could not open his mouth to speak a word, but 
at last he said, “ Well, I’ll do as you ask.” 

“ That tree is my home,” explained the fairy, 
“ and you will not lose as much as you think by 
letting it stand, for it is hollow at the heart. Besides, 
to show you that I am not ungrateful, I will grant 
you and your wife the first three wishes you and she 
wish after you get home, let them be what they may.” 


THE THREE WISHES 


271 

Then the fairy opened a little door at the base of 
the tree, which he had not seen before, and disap- 
peared. 

“ Well,” said the woodman, “ if my wife and I 
can have three wishes, our fortune is as good as made. 
It is nearly evening, and I may as well go home at 
once. I shall never need to cut any more trees.” 

He put his ax over his shoulder, picked up his 
basket and bottle, and off he went. When he 
arrived at his cottage he sat down by the fireside to 
rest and told his wife about the fairy. 

“ Well,” said she, when she had heard him through, 
“ If it is left to my choice, I know very well what I 
would wish for. I think nothing is so good as to be 
handsome, and rich, and aristocratic.” 

“ And yet,” said the husband, “ even with such 
wishes realized, one might be sick and fretful and 
die young. It would be much wiser to wish for 
health, cheerfulness, and a long life.” 

“ The fairy should have promised a dozen wishes,” 
said the wife, “ for there are at least that many things 
I want very much.” 

“ Yes,” agreed the 'man, “a dozen wishes would 
have been better, but as we have only three we must 
make those three do all that is possible. Let us con- 
sider the matter carefully until tomorrow before 


272 


THE THREE WISHES 


wishing, that we may decide wisely what three 
things are most necessary for us.” 

“ I’ll think the whole night through,” said she. 

“ After all,” remarked the man, “ it may be the 
fairy’s promise was only a trick. Who can tell?” 

The evening was chilly, and the wife took the 
tongs and poked the fire into brighter blaming. For 
a time the man sat in silence, and then he happened 
to think that he was hungry. “ Why isn’t the supper 
ready? ” he asked. 

“ You forget that you are home early,” she replied. 
“ It won’t be supper time for two hours.” 

“ Ah ! ” sighed he, “ two hours is a long wait after 
working in the woods all day. I wish I had some 
nice sausages this minute.” 

No sooner had he said this than — rustle, rustle — 
what should come down the chimney but a dish con- 
taining a string of as fine sausages as ever were seen. 
The dish came down on the hearth with a slight 
clatter, and the woodman and his wife stared in 
astonishment. “ What’s all this? ” said she. 

He answered not a word, and she glowered and 
glowered. “ Oh, you silly man! ” she cried, “ there’s 
one wish gone already, and only two are left. What 
a fool you have been! I wish the sausages were 
fast to the tip of your nose.” 







THE THREE WISHES 


275 

Before you could wink, there the goodman sat 
with his nose the longer for a noble string of sausages. 
He tried to pull them off, but they stuck. Then his 
wife gave them a pull, but still they stuck. They 
refused to come off even when the two pulled together. 

“ Ouch, ouch! ” exclaimed the man, u we must 
stop this pulling, or we shall pull my nose off. But 
I can’t have these things staying on my nose. What 
shall we do? ” 

“ They are not so very unsightly,” said she, “ and 
we had better wish for vast riches. Then we shall 
be able to live in comfort the rest of our lives, and 
if you object to the looks of the sausages we can 
have a golden case made to hide them.” 

“ I couldn’t endure them, case or no case,” declared 
the man. Then, lest the goodwife should wish for 
riches in spite of his protest, he hastily wished that 
the sausages might come off. 

There they lay in the dish as before, and if the 
husband and wife did not ride in a golden coach and 
dress in silk and satin, why they at least had as fine 
a mess of sausages for their supper as the heart of 
man could desire. 


THE OLD HORSE 


T HERE was once a farmer who had a horse 
which served him faithfully till it had grown 
old and could do its work no longer. So 
its master grudged it food, and said: “ I have no 
further use for you, and yet I still feel kindly toward 
you. Therefore, if you will show yourself strong 
enough to bring home a lion, I will take care of you 
to the end of your days. But away with you now 
out of my stable.” 

Then the farmer drove the poor horse out, and 
it went sadly away with drooping head to the forest 
to get a little shelter from the wind and weather. 
There it met a fox, who said, “ Why do you hang your 
head and look so downcast, and wander about in 
this solitary fashion? ” 

“Alas!” said the horse, “ avarice and fidelity 
cannot dwell together. My master has forgotten 
all the service I have rendered him these many years, 
and because I can no longer plough he will not give 
me any fodder, and he has driven me out of my sta- 
ble.” 


THE OLD HORSE 277 

“ Did he give you no hope that you might return? ” 
asked the fox. 

“ Very little/’ replied the horse. “ He told me 
that if I could manage to bring home a lion he would 
take care of me, but he knows well enough that such 
a thing is impossible.” 

“ Perhaps not,” said the fox. “ I will help you. 
Just you lie down here and stretch out your legs 
as if you were dead.” 

The horse^did as he was bid, and the fox went to 
a lion whose den was not far off, and said: “ Near 
by lies a dead horse. Come along with me, and 
you can have a capital meal.” 

The lion went with the fox, and when they got to 
the horse, the fox said : “ Hist! hearken to my advice. 
You can’t eat the creature in comfort here. I will 
tie it to you, and you can drag it away to your den, 
and enjoy it at your leisure.” 

The plan pleased the lion, and he stood quite still, 
close to the horse, while the fox knotted the horse’s 
tail fast to him. He did not realize that the fox 
was cunningly tying his legs together and twisting 
and knotting the hairs of the tail till it was impossible 
for him to get free with all his strength. As soon as 
the work was done, the fox patted the horse on the 
shoulder, and said: “ Pull, old Gray! Pull! ” 


THE OLD HORSE 


278 

At once the horse jumped up and started for home, 
dragging the lion behind it. In his rage the lion 
roared so that all the birds in the forest flew away 
in terror. But the horse let him roar, and never 
stopped until it reached its master’s door. 

When the farmer saw what the horse had done 



he was delighted, and he repented of his former reso- 
lution to let the creature shift for itself. “ You shall 
remain with me in future and live at your ease,” 
said he. 

So the faithful horse had plenty to eat and com- 
fortable shelter till it died. 


THE DONKEY CABBAGES 


T HERE was once a young huntsman who went 
to the forest in search of game. He was 
light-hearted and merry, and he whistled 
a gay tune as he went along. By and by he met an 
ugly old woman, who said: “ Good morning, hunts- 
man. You are well fed and happy, while I am hungry 
and sad. Give me an alms, I pray you.” 

The huntsman pitied the poor old woman, and 
he put his hand in his pocket and gave her what he 
could afford. Then he started to go on, but the 
old woman stopped him, and said: “Hark you, 
dear huntsman, I will make you a present because 
of your good heart. Go on your way, and you will 
soon come to a tree on which sit nine birds quarreling 
over a cloak. Take aim with your gun, and shoot 
into the midst of them. They will drop the cloak, 
and one of the birds will fall down dead. Take the 
cloak with you. It is a wishing-cloak. When you 
throw it round your shoulders you have only to wish 
yourself at a place to be there at once. Cut open the 


2 So 


THE DONKEY CABBAGES 


dead bird, and you will find a ring inside. Wear it on 
your finger, and each morning there will be a gold piece 
under your pillow.” 

The huntsman thanked the old woman, and 
thought, “ She promises fine things, and I hope it 
will all turn out as she says.” 

When he had gone about a hundred paces, he 
heard above him, in the branches of a tree, a great 
chattering and screaming. He looked up and saw a 
group of birds pulling at a cloak with their beaks and 
claws. It was evident from the snatching and tugging 
that each bird wanted the garment for itself. 

“ Well,” said the huntsman, “ this is extraordi- 
nary, and it is just what the old woman said 
I would see.” 

He put his gun to his shoulder, took aim, and 
fired. Away went the birds with a great noise and 
scattering of feathers — all except one, which fell 
down dead, and at the same time the cloak dropped 
at the huntsman’s feet. He cut open the bird and 
found a ring inside and put it on his finger. Then he 
took the cloak and went home. 

When he awoke the next morning he remembered 
the old woman’s promise and looked under his pillow. 
Sure enough, there lay a shining gold^coin, and on the 
morning following he found another, and thus it 


THE DONKEY CABBAGES 


281 


was every morning. Gradually, he collected quite a 
heap of gold, and at last he said to himself: “ What 
is the good of all this gold to me if I stay at home ? I 
will go and look about in the world.” 

So he took leave of his parents, shouldered his 
gun, and set out on his travels. One day a turn in 
the road brought into view a magnificent castle. 
An old woman and a beautiful girl were looking 
out from an upper window. The old woman was a 
witch, and the maiden was her daughter. “ Here 
comes some one,” said she, “ who has a magic ring 
on his finger. We must try to get it, my darling. 
It is better suited to us than to him. Whoever wears 
that ring finds a gold coin every morning under the 
pillow. You must get it from him or it will be the 
worse for you.” 

She then withdrew, but the maiden remained 
looking out of the window. When the huntsman got 
nearer he saw her, and said to himself: “ I am weary 
with traveling. I will stop at this fine castle and 
rest.” But he would not have felt such an urgent 
need of stopping if he had not seen the maiden. 

He was kindly received and hospitably enter- 
tained, and he was soon so in love with the daughter 
of the witch that she was constantly in his thoughts, 
and he cared for nothing but pleasing her. 


282 


THE DONKEY CABBAGES 


At length the witch decided on a plan for getting 
the ring. She concocted a drink that would make 
the huntsman insensible, put it in a goblet, and said 
to her daughter: “ Carry this to the youth, and get 
his ring. He will not miss it.” 

The maiden went to the huntsman, and said, 
“ My dearest, here is a pleasant drink we have pre- 
pared for you.” 

He took the goblet and drank what was in it, and 
soon it overpowered him and she secured the magic 
ring. After that the huntsman found no more gold 
under his pillow; but the maiden wore the ring every 
night, and the coin was under her pillow instead, and 
each morning the old woman used to come and get it. 
However, he did not trouble himself about the mat- 
ter, and was content to enjoy the maiden’s company. 

One day the old woman said to her daughter: 
“ We have got the ring, but we must have his wish- 
ing-cloak, too.” 

“ Let us leave him that,” said the maiden. “ Have 
we not done enough in taking away his means of 
getting riches? ” 

That made the old woman very angry, and she 
said, “ The cloak is so rare and wonderful a thing 
that I am determined to have it, and I shall punish 
you unless you get it for me.” 


THE DONKEY CABBAGES 283 

The maiden seated herself at a window and looked 
sadly out at a distant blue mountain. Soon the hunts- 
man joined her and asked, “ Why are you so sad? ” 

“Alas! my sweetheart,” said she, “over there is 
the granite mountain, on which are great quantities 
of precious stones. I long for those precious stones 
so much that I grow melancholy whenever I think 
of them. But who can ever get them, except per- 
haps the birds, for the mountain-sides are too steep 
to climb.” 

“ If that is all your trouble,” said the huntsman, 
“ I have a remedy for it.” 

Then he drew her under his cloak and wished to 
be on the granite mountain, and they were there 
almost instantly. Precious stones glittered all 
around them and rejoiced their sight, and they eagerly 
gathered some of the largest and finest. But the 
witch had cast a spell on the huntsman, and a great 
drowsiness began to come over him. He said to the 
maiden, “ We will sit down and rest a while, for I am 
so tired I can hardly stand.” 

They sat down, and he laid his head on her lap, 
and went to sleep. Then the maiden slipped the 
cloak off his shoulders and put it on her own, loaded 
herself with the precious stones, and wished herself 
at home. 


THE DONKEY CABBAGES 


284 

By and by the huntsman awoke and realized that 
his beloved had betrayed him and left him alone on 
the wild mountain. “ Oh, what treachery there is in 
the world!” he exclaimed, and he sat there over- 
whelmed with grief and knew not what to do. 

The mountain belonged to some savage and mighty 
giants, and before long he saw three of them striding 
toward him. He hastily lay down and pretended to 
be fast asleep. The first one, when he came to where 
the huntsman was, kicked him, and said, “ What 
kind of an earthworm is this? ” 

“ Tread on him and kill him,” said the second. 

But the third said contemptuously: “ That is 
not worth while. Let him alone. He will soon die 
here, or if he climbs higher up the mountain the 
clouds will carry him away.” 

Then they went off, and the huntsman got up and 
climbed to the top of the mountain. After he had 
sat there for a time, a cloud came sweeping by, and 
it caught him up and floated away through the air 
with him. At last, in the dusk of evening, it made 
a gentle descent dnd deposited him in a large walled 
garden. He looked around and said: “ I wish I had 
something to eat. After traveling so far I am very 
hungry. But here I see not a single apple or berry, 
or any other fruit — nothing, only cabbages, some 



^TO HIS HORROR HE PERCEIVED THAT HE HAD 
1 BEEN TRANSFORMED INTO A DONKEY 







,«■ 















: ] 














































































THE DONKEY CABBAGES 285 

of them green and some pink. As there is no other 
food to be had I will try one of the cabbages, and I 
think it may refresh me, even if I don’t like the 
taste of it.” 

So he selected a tender head of green cabbage 
and started to eat. But he had scarcely taken a 
couple of bites when he felt a wondrous change come 
over him. His head grew big and shaggy, and his 
ears long and hairy, and his arms became legs, and he 
had’ hoofs instead of hands and feet. To his horror 
he perceived that he had been transformed into a 
donkey. Soon he resumed eating, for his appetite 
had not been appeased, and the juicy cabbages were 
now much to his liking. Presently he tried one of 
the pink cabbages. Immediately he felt a new change 
taking place, and soon found he had resumed his 
human form. 

Now he lay down and slept off his fatigue. When 
he awoke it was morning, and he broke off a head of 
the green cabbage and a head of the pink cabbage, 
and thought: “ I will take these along. They may 
be of use to me.” 

Then he clambered over the wall and went off 
in search of the witch’s castle. After wandering 
about for a few days he was fortunate enough to 
find it. But before he showed himself he stained his 


286 


THE DONKEY CABBAGES 


face and disguised himself as a countryman. Even 
his own mother would not have known him. That 
done, he went to the castle and begged for a night’s 
lodging.- 

“ Who are you? ” asked the witch, “ and what is 
your business? ” 

“ I am a messenger from the king,” he replied. 
“ His Majesty sent me to seek the most delicate 
cabbages that grow on earth. I have been successful 
in securing two heads, but the sun shines so warm I 
am afraid the tender leaves will wither and that I 
would waste my efforts to go any farther with them.” 

When the old witch heard about these precious 
cabbages she was anxious to eat of them herself, 
and she became very agreeable in her manner toward 
the wanderer, and said, “ Good countryman, let 
me taste the wonderful cabbages.” 

“ By all means,” said he. “ You shall have one 
of them,” and he handed her the green cabbage. 

She took it to the kitchen, and with her own hands 
prepared a salad for her household. But when it 
was ready for the table she could wait no longer, and 
put some of it in her mouth and began eating. Im- 
mediately the charm worked, and she became an 
old, gray donkey and ran out into the courtyard. 

Presently the servant maid entered the kitchen. 


THE DONKEY CABBAGES 287 

She saw the cabbage salad on the table and took it 
up to carry it to the dining-hall. But on the way, 
in accord with her usual habit, she tasted of it. At 
once she turned into a donkey, dropped the dish, 
and ran out to join the other donkey. 

In the meantime, the disguised huntsman sat 
with the beautiful maiden. She asked him about 
the wonderful cabbage, and expressed an eager 
desire to eat some of it. 

“ I will go to the kitchen and see if it is ready,” 
said he. 

But on the way thither he found the salad on the 
floor with scattered fragments of the dish that had 
contained it. Then he looked out of a window and 
saw the two donkeys running about in the courtyard. 
“ Very good,” said he, and he put the salad in a fresh 
dish and carried it to the maiden. 

“ I have brought you this precious salad myself,” 
said he, “ so that you will not have to wait any 
longer.” 

Thereupon she ate some, and lost her human form, 
and ran out to the courtyard. The huntsman 
washed the stain from his face, and went out and 
addressed the donkeys. “ Now,” said he, “ you see 
plainly who I am, and I would have you know that 
I am going to punish you for your treachery.” 


288 


THE DONKEY CABBAGES 


He tied them together with a rope, and drove them 
along the highway until he came to a mill. There he 
stopped and tapped on a window. The miller put 
his head out and asked what he wanted. 

“ I have three bad animals here,” said he, “ and 
I want to get rid of them. If you will take them and 
feed and treat them as I wish, I will pay you whatever 
you say is fair for your trouble.” 

“ All right,” said the miller. “ How shall I treat 
them?” 

The huntsman said he would have the old donkey, 
which was the witch, well beaten three times a day 
and fed once. Then he pointed out the one which 
was the servant lass, and said, “ Beat that one once 
and feed it three times; and this other you are not 
to beat at all. It is to receive good care and plenty 
to eat; ” for he could not make up his mind to cause 
the fair maiden pain. 

He returned to the castle and made himself very 
comfortable there. A few days later the miller came 
and told him the old gray donkey was dead. On 
learning this the huntsman took pity on the two 
other beasts, and had the miller bring them back 
to him. As soon as they came he gave them some of 
the pink cabbage to eat, and one promptly became 
the servant maid, and the other the beautiful daugh- 


THE DONKEY CABBAGES 289 

ter of the witch, just as they were before they ate 
of the green cabbage. 

The beautiful maiden fell on her knees at the 
feet of the huntsman, and said: “ Oh, my beloved, 
forgive all the wrong I have done you. My mother 
compelled me to do it against my will, for I love you 
with my whole heart. Your wishing-cloak hangs in 
one of the closets, and I will get your ring for you, 
too.” 

“ Keep the ring,” said he. “ I intend to make you 
my bride, and we will enjoy our riches together.” 

Soon afterward they were married, and they lived 
happily to the end of their lives. 


SWEET PORRIDGE 


Y EARS ago there was a little girl who lived 
with her mother in a small house on the edge 
of a forest. They were very poor, and at 
length there came a time when they had nothing 
left to eat. One day the little girl went into the 
forest to get a few sticks with which to make a fire, 
and there she met an old woman who gave her a 
small pot, and said: “ This pot will supply you with 
food, and you need never be hungry again. You 
have only to say, ‘ Boil, little pot, boil ! 9 and it will 
cook you as much nice, sweet porridge as you can 
wish for. Just watch it, and when the porridge 
inside has increased to the amount you want, say, 
‘ Stop, little pot,’ and the boiling will immediately 
cease.” 

The little girl thanked the old woman, and carried 
the pot home to her mother. After that they had 
plenty to eat, for the pot supplied them with sweet 
porridge as often as they pleased. 

Everything prospered with them until one 


SWEET PORRIDGE 


291 

afternoon the little girl went for a walk in the fields 
outside of the village. She was gone so long that 
her mother became hungry, and said to the pot, 
“ Boil, little pot, boil.” 

At once the cooking began, but when the porridge 
in the pot had increased to enough for a meal, she 
could not think of the magic words to stop the boil- 
ing process. So the pot soon began to overflow, and 
it continued to boil and boil till the porridge filled 
the kitchen. In a little while the entire house was 
filled, and still the pot boiled. The porridge now 
commenced to stream out at the doors and windows 
and chimney. It filled the yard and the garden, it 
engulfed the next house, and the next, and soon the 
street was filled. The people fled before it, and it 
covered the whole village out of sight. It seemed 
likely to furnish food for all the world, and there is 
no knowing what might have happened if the little 
girl had not returned and called to the pot to stop. 

Then it left off cooking; but for many a long day 
the people who wished to get into the village had 
to eat their way through a great mass of sweet por- 
ridge. 


THE PRAYING GEESE 


A FOX once came to a meadow where a flock 
of fine fat geese were feeding. “ My dears,” 
said he, “ I have come without ceremony, 
just as if I had been invited. You are very charm- 
ing, and I desire nothing better than to keep you 



company and eat you one after another at my 
leisure.” 

The geese cackled for terror and began to beg 
pitifully for their lives. But their appeals had no 
effect on the fox. His only response was: u I shall 
show you no mercy. You must die.” 


THE PRAYING GEESE 


^93 


Then one of them said: “ If we poor geese must 
lose our lives, at least grant us one single grace. 
Permit us to say our prayers, that we may not die 
in our sins. After we finish praying we will all stand 
in a row, and you can pick out the fattest one to 
begin on, and feast as you please.” 

“ Well,” said the fox, “ that is a just and pious re- 
quest. Pray away, and I will wait for you.” 

So they all commenced praying: “ Honk, honk, 
honk! Honk, honk, honk! ” 

When they have finished praying, this tale shall 
be continued; but meanwhile you can be very sure 
that they are praying still. 


THE DARNING NEEDLE 


HERE was once a darning needle which 



thought itself so fine that it imagined it 


was a sewing needle. “ Be careful to hold 


me tightly,” it said to the fingers as they took it up. 
“ Do not drop me, for if I fall I doubt if I should be 
found again, I am so fine.” 

“ That’s what you say,” remarked the fingers and 
began sewing. 

“ Look, I have a train,” the darning needle said, 
and dragged a long thread after it. 

The fingers belonged to a cook, and they applied 
the needle to a slipper, the upper leather of which had 
torn and needed mending. “ This is degrading work,” 
said the darning needle. “ I shall never get through 
such coarse leather. I shall break, I shall break! ” 

And really it did break. “ Did I not tell you so? ” 
the needle sighed. “ I am too fine.” 

“Now it is good for nothing,” said the fingers; 
but still they held it while the cook with the fin- 
gers of her other hand dropped some melted sealing- 


THE DARNING NEEDLE 



295 

wax on the broken end. When the wax cooled, she 
fastened her neckerchief with the needle. 

“ I have become a scarf-pin,” said the needle. 
“ I knew very well that I should come to honor. 

When one is worthy one is sure to get 
on in the world.” 

Then it laughed to itself and sat there 
as proudly as if it was in its own car- 
riage, and it looked about in all direc- 
tions. “ May I take the liberty to ask 
, , if you are of gold? ” it inquired of a pin 
q. that was its neighbor. “ Your outward 

appearance is splendid, and I see you 
have a head, too, although it is very 
small. You must endeavor to have it 
grow, for it is not every one who can 
receive a sealing-wax head of just the 
proper size.” 

So saying, the darning needle raised 
itself so proudly that it fell out of the 
neckerchief into the sink which the 
cook was rinsing. “ Now I am going 
to travel,” the needle said. “ I hope I 
shall not be lost.” 

The cook did not observe it, and down it went 
through the drain and out into a street gutter. “ I 


THE DARNING NEEDLE 


296 

am too fine for this world, ” it said as it lay there 
in the mud beneath a shallow flow of water. “ How- 
ever, I know my own worth, and there is always a 
satisfaction in that.” 

So the darning needle kept its proud bearing and 
retained its cheerful temper. All sorts of things 
floated past over it — chips, straws, and bits of 
newspaper. “ How they sail along! ” the needle 
said, “ and they little know what is lying here under 
them. There goes a chip, thinking of nothing in the 
world but itself — a chip! Now a piece of straw 
floats past. How it twists and twirls about! It 
ought not to think only of itself, for unless it is 
careful it will most likely run against a stone. There 
swims a piece of old newspaper. What is printed 
on it has long been forgotten, and yet see what 
airs it gives itself. As for me, here I sit patiently 
and quietly. I know what I am, and that I shall 
remain.” 

One day something glittering lay close by its 
side, and the darning needle thought this glittering 
object was a diamond. Really it was only a piece 
of a broken bottle. But because it was so bright the 
darning needle spoke to it and introduced itself as 
a scarf-pin. “ You are a diamond, I suppose,” said 
the needle. 


THE DARNING NEEDLE 


297 

“Yes, I am something of that sort,” responded 
the piece of glass. 

So each thought the other something very choice, 
and they gossiped together about the arrogance and 
pride of the world. 

“ I have lived in a box that belonged to a young 
lady,” explained the darning needle. “ The young 
lady was a cook, and she had five fingers on each hand. 
I was only intimate with those on her right hand, and 
never have I seen anything else so conceited as were 
those five fingers. Yet they were made simply to 
take me out of the box and put me back again.” 

“ Were they very distinguished? ” asked the piece 
of glass. 

“Distinguished! ” said the darning needle. “ No, 
but they were conceited and haughty. They were 
five brothers and were always together one by the 
side of the other, though they were of different 
lengths. The first was Mr. Thumb. He was short 
and thick, and had only one joint in his back, so he 
could only make one bend when he bowed. Fore- 
man, the second, dived into all the foods, both sweet 
and sour, to test them, pointed to the sun and moon, 
and pressed on the pen in writing. Middleman, the 
third, looked right over the heads of all the others. 
Ringman, the fourth, wore a golden girdle round his 


298 the darning needle 

waist. Littleman, the fifth, did nothing at all and 
was proud of it. The whole five were constantly 
bragging and boasting, and therefore I left them.” 

“ And now we lie here and shine,” said the piece 
of glass. 

Just then there was a rush of water in the gutter 
that carried the piece of glass away. “ She has risen 
in the world,” said the darning needle, “ but I re- 
main here. I am too fine. However, that is my 
pride, and I have good reason for it.” 

So there it proudly lay and had many great 
thoughts. “ I am almost inclined to believe I am 
the child of a sunbeam, I am so fine,” it said. “ In- 
deed, it seems to me as if the sun was always looking 
for me here under the water. But I am so fine that 
my own mother cannot find me. If I only had my 
eye, which broke off, I think I should cry; but that 
I shall not do — it is not considered well-bred to 
cry.” 

One day some boys were rummaging around in the 
gutter hunting for half-pence, old nails, and such- 
like treasures. It was dirty work, but it gave them 
great pleasure. One of them pricked himself with 
the darning needle. “ Oh! ” he cried, and took up 
the needle and showed it to his comrades, saying, 
“ Look at this fellow.” 


THE DARNING NEEDLE 299 

“ I am no fellow at all, but a young lad y,” the 
needle said; but no one heard it. 

The sealing - wax had come off, and the needle 
had turned black, but that made it look thinner, and 
therefore it thought itself finer than ever. 

“ Here comes an egg-shell sailing along,” said 
the boys, and they put the needle into it. 

“ White walls, and I myself black,” said the darn- 
ing needle. “ That is very becoming, and people 
cannot help seeing me now. I hope I shall not be sea- 
sick.” 

On it drifted in the egg-shell boat, and the voyage 
proved very enjoyable. “ There is no protection 
against seasickness like having a steel stomach, and 
the constant thought of one’s worthiness,” it said. 
“ The finer one is the more one can bear.” 

Crash! went the egg-shell as a wagon passed over 
it. “ Good heavens! ” exclaimed the darning needle, 
“ how that wheel presses on me! I shall be seasick 
after all. I am breaking! ” 

But it did not break, although the heavy wagon 
wheel passed over it. There it lay full length, and 
there it may stay. 


THE RABBIT AND THE 
GREEDY MONKEY 


O NCE upon a time there lived in the moun- 
tains a rabbit and a monkey who were great 
friends. As they sat by the road side one day 
hobnobbing together, they saw a man approaching 
with a bamboo pole over his shoulder, and at each 
end of the pole was a bundle hung by a string. There 
were bananas in one bundle and sugar in the other. 

“ Friend of my heart,” said the monkey to the 
rabbit, “ do as I tell you. Go and sit in the road in 
front of that man, and as soon as he sees you, run. 
He will be sure to drop his load and follow. Then I 
will pick up his bundles and hide them, and when you 
come back we will share the contents between us.” 

So the rabbit went and sat in the road, and when 
the man saw him, away the rabbit ran, and the man 
dropped his burden and gave chase. The monkey, 
who had been concealed in the tall wayside grass, 
pounced on the man’s bundles, climbed a tall tree 
with them, and began to gobble up the bananas and 
sugar they contained. 


THE RABBIT AND THE GREEDY MONKEY 301 

By and by the man came back, hot and empfy- 
handed. When he saw that his goods, as well as the 
rabbit, were gone, he cursed loudly and went home 
to be scolded by his wife. 

The rabbit returned soon after the man left, and 
hunted about for his friend the monkey. He searched 




the vicinity thoroughly, but not a trace of his friend 
could he find, till he happened to look up aloft, and 
behold, there was Mr. Monkey in a tree munching 
away with every sign of enjoyment. 

“ Hello, comrade!” said the rabbit, a come down 
out of that.” 

“ I’m very comfortable here, thank you,” said the 
monkey. 

“ But where is my share of our plunder? ” the rab- 
bit asked indignantly. 


302 THE RABBIT AND THE GREEDY MONKEY 

“ All gone, all gone,” mumbled the monkey, and 
pelted the rabbit with banana peels and wads of 
paper made out of the wrappings of the sugar. 
“ Where have you been all this time? I got hungry 
and couldn’t wait any longer.” 

The rabbit would not believe that the things in the 
bundles were all gone. He thought his friend was 
joking. But the truth of the matter was that the 
greedy creature had not left a scrap of either sugar 
or bananas. 

“ Do you really mean it? ” said the poor rabbit at 
last. 

“ If you don’t believe me, come and see,” said the 
monkey, and he descended the tree-trunk nearly to 
the ground, seized the rabbit by his long ears, and 
hauled him up into the tree. After mocking him and 
making great sport he left him there and went away. 

The rabbit was afraid to jump down from such a 
height. So he remained up in the tree for a long time. 
Many animals passed under the tree, but not one 
took pity on the rabbit until an old and foolish 
rhinoceros came along and stopped to rub his wrin- 
kled-hide against the tree-trunk. 

“ Kind rhinoceros,” said the rabbit, “ let me jump 
down on your back.” 

The rhinoceros agreed, and down came the rabbit 


THE RABBIT AND THE GREEDY MONKEY 303 

with such a thump that the creature’s back was 
broken, and he died. But the rabbit was not hurt, 
and he ran and he ran until he came to the king’s 
palace. There he hid under the king’s golden throne. 
By and by in came the king with his courtiers. All 
the grandees were standing around the throne in 
their gorgeous robes glittering with rubies and dia- 
monds when they were startled by a sudden sneeze. 

“God bless you!” exclaimed the courtiers. 

“ Who has the bad manners to sneeze in my royal 
presence? ” cried the king. 

Each man looked at his neighbor and wondered 
who did it. “ Off with his head! ” shouted the king. 

Another sneeze came. This time every one was 
alert and on the watch, and they noticed that the 
sound came from beneath the king’s golden throne. 
So they reached under and dragged out the rabbit, 
who was so scared he looked more dead than alive. 

“ All right,” said the king, “ off with his head! ” 

The executioner ran to get his sword. But the 
rabbit, in spite of his fright, had his wits about him, 
and he sat up on his hind legs, put his two forepaws 
together, and said respectfully: “ O great king, 
first hear what I have to say. If you will spare my 
life I will give you a dead rhinoceros. Let twenty men 
go with me to bring the body to your palace.” 


304 THE RABBIT AND THE GREEDY MONKEY 

The king and his courtiers laughed loud and long. 
However, just to see what would come of it, the 
king ordered twenty men to go with the rabbit. They 
were guided by the rabbit to the spot where the 
rhinoceros lay dead, and with great exertion they 
dragged the body to the palace. Every one was very 
glad, because the horn of a rhinoceros is good for 
curing many diseases. The court physician ground 
the horn into powder, and made out of it a most won- 
derful medicine, and the king was so pleased that 
he gave the rabbit a horse to ride on and a handsome 
new coat. 

The rabbit put on his new coat, mounted the horse, 
and rode off. Presently, who should he meet but 
his friend, the monkey. “ Hello! ” said the monkey, 
“ where did you get all that finery? ” 

“ This horse and this coat were given to me by the 
king,” replied the rabbit. 

“ And why should the king make such a present 
to a simpleton like you? ” the monkey asked. 

“ I, whom you call a simpleton,” said the rabbit, 
“ got this horse and this elegant coat by sneezing 
under the king’s golden throne.” Then he rode away. 

The monkey fell a-thinking how nice it would be 
if he could get a fine coat and a horse. “ I can sneeze,” 
said he. “ Why shouldn’t I try my luck? ” 


THE RABBIT AND THE GREEDY MONKEY 305 

Off he scampered to the king’s palace, and hid 
beneath the king’s golden throne. Soon the king and 
his courtiers came in, all richly arrayed, and the 
monkey sneezed in the most auspicious manner he 
could contrive. 

“ Who is that? ” thundered the king, glaring about 
him. “ Who has the bad manners to sneeze in the 
king’s presence? ” 

They searched till they found the monkey hidden 
under the throne, and hauled him out. 

“ Wily tree-climber,” said the king, “ have you 
any gift for me that might cause me not to bid the 
executioner to cut off your head ? ” 

The monkey pondered a few moments in fear and 
trembling, and then stammered, “ O king, I have 
some banana peels and pellets of paper.” 

This reply only increased the king’s wrath, and 
the unfortunate monkey was led away to be executed. 


THE NIGHTINGALE 


I N China, you know, the emperor is a Chinaman, 
and all the people around him are Chinamen, too. 
The emperor’s palace, at the time of this story, 
was more magnificent than any other in the world, 
for it was made entirely of the finest porcelain. In 
the garden bloomed the rarest flowers, and to the 
most beautiful ones were tied little silver bells which 
tinkled perpetually, so that no one could pass the 
flowers without looking at and admiring them. 
Every feature of the garden had been carefully 
planned, and it was so large that the gardener him- 
self did not know where it ended. If, however, one 
walked straight on, one came at last to a forest of 
lofty trees, and beyond the forest was the sea, deep 
and blue. Close to the shore, amid the foliage of the 
trees, lived a nightingale, and it sang so sweetly that 
even the poor fishermen would stop and listen, when 
they were out at night drawing in their nets. “ Heav- 
ens! how beautiful that is! ” they would say. 

But they could not listen long, for they had to 


THE NIGHTINGALE 


307 

attend to their work; yet if they came that way the 
next night they would again exclaim, “ How beau- 
tifully that bird sings! ” 

Travelers came from all the countries in the world 
to the city of the emperor; and they admired every- 
thing very much, especially the palace and the 
garden. But when they heard the nightingale they 
would say, “ That is best of all! ” 

After they got home they told of their experiences, 
and the learned ones wrote books about the things 
they had seen and heard in the domains of the Chinese 
emperor, and they never failed to praise the nightin- 
gale. Those who were poets wrote very beautiful 
verses about the nightingale in the wood by the deep, 
blue sea. 

At length some of the books came into the hands 
of the emperor. He sat in his golden chair and read 
them, and he nodded his head, well pleased by the 
appreciative descriptions of his city and palace and 
garden. Then he came to the words, “ But the 
nightingale is best of all.” 

“ What is this?” said he. “The nightingale — • 
why, I know nothing about it. Can there be such 
a bird in my realm, yes, and in my own garden, 
which I have never seen or heard? Fancy my having 
to discover this from a book!” 


308 THE NIGHTINGALE 

He called his chamberlain, who was so grand that 
when any one of lower rank dared to speak to him or 
ask him a question, he would only answer, Pooh! 
which means nothing at all. 

“ Chamberlain,” said the emperor, “ these books 
tell of a very wonderful bird called a nightingale 
in the palace garden. They declare it is the finest 
thing in my great empire. Why have I never been 
informed about it? ” 

“ This is the first time I have heard it mentioned,” 
said the chamberlain. “ It has never been presented 
at court.” 

“ My orders are that it shall appear in the palace 
this evening to sing to me,” said the emperor. “ The 
whole world knows what I possess, while I myself 
do not.” 

“ I have never heard it mentioned before,” said 
the chamberlain; “ but I will seek it, and I will find 
it.”. 

Yet where was it to be found? The chamberlain 
ran upstairs and downstairs, and in and out of all 
the rooms and corridors, but not one person among 
those he met had heard of the nightingale. So he 
ran back to the emperor and said the bird must be a 
myth invented by the people who wrote the books. 
“ Your Imperial Majesty ought not to believe every- 


THE NIGHTINGALE 


309 


thing that books contain,” said he. “ They are 
often mere fiction, and what we call the black 
art.” 

“ But the books in which I have been reading about 
the nightingale,” said the monarch, “ were sent to 
me by the high and mighty Emperor of Japan; so 
there cannot be anything untrue in them. I will 
hear the nightingale, and I insist that it must sing 
to me tonight. It shall have my gracious protection, 
and if you fail to have it here the whole court shall 
be trampled on after supper.” 

“Tsing-pe!” said the chamberlain, and away he 
ran again up and down the stairs and in and out of 
all the rooms and corridors. Half the court ran with 
him, for they none of them wished to be trampled 
on, and there was a great inquiry after the wonderful 
nightingale which was known to all the outside 
world, but to no one at court. 

At last they found a poor little maid in the kitchen, 
who said : “ Dear me, I know the nightingale very 
well, and it certainly can sing! Every evening I 
have permission to take home to my sick mother 
some of the scraps from the table. She lives by the 
seashore, and on my way back, when I am tired, I 
sit down to rest a while in the wood, and then I hear 
the nightingale. Its song makes the tears come 


3 io THE NIGHTINGALE 

into my eyes, and I feel as if my mother were kissing 
me! 

“ Little maid,” said the chamberlain, “ I will pro- 
cure you a permanent position in the kitchen, and 
permission to see the emperor dining, if you will 
take us to the nightingale, for it must appear at the 
court this evening.” 

Then they all went out into the wood where the 
nightingale sang. As they were going along at their 
best pace a cow began to bellow. “ Oh,” said the 
courtiers, “ that is it! What a wonderful power there 
is in the song for such a small creature! And we 
certainly have heard it before.” 

“ That is a cow bellowing,” said the little maid. 
“ We are a long way yet from the place where the 
nightingale sings.” 

Presently some frogs began to croak in a marsh. 
“Beautiful!” said the Chinese court chamberlain. 
“ Now I hear it. The sound is just like the tinkling 
of tiny church bells.” 

“ Those are frogs,” said the little maid. “ But 
I think we shall soon hear the nightingale now.” 

Then the nightingale began to sing. “ That’s it,” 
said the little maid. “Listen, listen; and look — 
there it sits! ” She pointed to a little gray bird up 
among the branches. 


THE NIGHTINGALE 


3ii 

“ Is it possible? ” said the chamberlain. “I 
should never have thought the nightingale was like 
that. How common it looks ! I suppose it has lost its 
color through a faintness caused by the unexpected 
sight of so many grand people.’’ 

“ Little nightingale,” said the kitchen-maid, “ our 
gracious emperor wishes you to sing to him.” 

“ I will do so with the greatest pleasure,” said the 
nightingale, and it warbled a song in the most de- 
lightful fashion. 

“ Its singing sounds just like crystal bells,” said 
the chamberlain. “ See how it works its little throat. 
I wonder that we have never heard it before. It will 
be a great success at court.” 

“ Shall I sing again to the emperor? ” asked the 
nightingale, who thought the monarch was present. 

“ My excellent little nightingale,” said the cham- 
berlain, “ I have the honor to invite your attendance 
at a court festival tonight, when you will charm his 
Imperial Majesty with your fascinating singing.” 

“ My singing sounds best among the trees,” said 
the nightingale, but it went with them willingly 
when it understood that the emperor wanted it to 
come. 

The palace had been splendidly decorated for the 
occasion. The porcelain walls and floors reflected 


312 


THE NIGHTINGALE 


the light of many thousands of golden lamps; the 
most beautiful flowers, all of the tinkling kind, were 
arranged in the corridors; and there was such a run- 
ning to and fro as kept the bells in constant motion 
and filled one’s ears full of the tinkling. 

In the center of the great hall, where the emperor 
sat, a golden perch had been fixed for the nightingale. 
The whole court was present, and the little kitchen- 
maid was permitted to stand behind the door, for 
she had been promoted to be a real palace cook. All 
were dressed in their very best, and all had their 
eyes on the little gray bird, to whom the emperor 
nodded. 

The nightingale sang so beautifully that tears 
came into the emperor’s eyes and ran down his cheeks. 
Indeed, the song touched the heart of every one who 
heard it. The emperor was so charmed that he 
said the nightingale should have his golden garter to 
wear around its neck. But the nightingale declined 
with thanks, saying that it had already received 
sufficient reward; “ for I have seen tears in the em- 
peror’s eyes,” it added, “ and I could ask for nothing 
more.” 

Then again it sang its heavenly song. “ That is 
the sweetest possible sort of coquetry,” said the 
ladies; and they took some water into their mouths 


THE NIGHTINGALE 


313 

to try to make the same gurgling when any one 
spoke to them. 

Everybody expressed satisfaction — even the foot- 
men and chamber-maids, and that is saying a great 
deal, for they are always the most difficult people to 
please. In short, the nightingale was a great success. 

It was now to remain at court and live in a cage. 
Twice a day and once at night it had liberty to go 
out, but whenever it left its cage it was accompanied 
by twelve servants, each holding a silken string at- 
tached to its leg. There was not much pleasure in 
an outing of that sort. 

The whole city talked about the wonderful bird, 
and if two acquaintances met, one would say, by 
way of greeting, “ Nightin,” and the other would 
say, “ gale; ” and then they sighed, and perfectly 
understood each other. Eleven tradesmen’s children 
were named after the bird, though not one of them 
grew up with the least ability to sing. 

One day the emperor received a large parcel on 
which was written, “ The Nightingale.” 

“ Here we have a new book about our celebrated 
bird,” said he. 

It was no book, however, but a box that contained 
an artificial nightingale made much like the living 
one in size and shape, but covered all over with 


314 


THE NIGHTINGALE 


diamonds, rubies, and sapphires. When the imita- 
tion bird was wound up, it could sing one of the songs 
the real bird sang, and then it wagged its tail all 
glittering with silver and gold. Round its neck was 
tied a ribbon, on which was written, “ The Emperor of 
Japan’s nightingale is poor compared with that of 
the Emperor of China.” 

Everybody said, “ Oh, how beautiful! ” and he who 
had brought the artificial bird immediately received 
the title of Imperial Nightingale-Carrier-in-Chief. 

“ Now the two birds must sing together,” said the 
courtiers. “ What a lovely duet that will be! ” 

So they had to sing together, but they did not get 
on very well, for the real bird sang its own way, and 
did not keep time with the mechanical bird. 

“ The discords are not the new one’s fault,” said 
the music-master, “ for it sings in perfect time and 
in every way is entirely correct.” 

Afterward the imitation bird was made to sing 
alone. Singing thus, it was just as great a success 
as the real bird; and of course it was much prettier to 
look at, for it glittered like bracelets and breastpins. 
Thirty-three times it sang the same tune over, and 
still it was not tired. The courtiers would willingly 
have heard it from the beginning again, but the 
emperor said that the live nightingale must have 


The nightingale at court 
















* 
































• 





























THE NIGHTINGALE 


3i7 

a turn now. Where was it? No one had noticed that 
it had flown out of the open window back to its own 
green woods. 

“ What is the meaning of this? ” said the emperor. 

The courtiers all blamed the nightingale, and 
thought it a most ungrateful creature. “ Anyway, 
we have the best bird,” they said. 

Then the imitation bird had to sing again, which 
made the thirty-fourth time they had heard the 
same tune. But they did not know the tune thor- 
oughly, even then, it was so difficult. The music- 
master praised the bird exceedingly, and insisted 
that it was much better than a live nightingale, not 
only as regarded its outside with all the diamonds, 
but the inside, too. “ Because,” said he, “ we never 
know what song is coming next from the real nightin- 
gale, but with the artificial one everything is decided 
beforehand. So it is, and so it must remain; it 
can’t be otherwise. You can open the bird, you can 
explain it, and show the ingenuity of it, how the 
wheels go, and how one note follows another.” 

“Those are exactly my opinions,” they all said; 
and the music-master received permission to show 
the bird to the people on the following Sunday. 

So the people saw the imitation nightingale and 
heard it sing, and they were all very enthusiastic 


THE NIGHTINGALE 


3i8 

over it, and they all said, “ Oh! ” and stuck their fore- 
fingers up into the air and nodded their heads. 

But the poor fishermen who had heard the real bird 
said: “ The song of this bird is very nice, and it is 
much like that of the live bird, but there is something 
wanting — we don’t know what.” 

The real nightingale was banished from the empire, 
while the artificial bird, was given a place on a silk 
cushion close to the emperor’s bed. All the presents 
which it had received lay around it, and the title 
of Chief Imperial Singer of the Bedchamber on the 
Left Side was conferred on it. The emperor con- 
sidered the left side, where the heart is, the more im- 
portant, for even an emperor has his heart on the 
left side just like other people. 

A treatise in twenty-five volumes was written 
by the music-master about the artificial bird, and 
this treatise was so learned and long, and so full of 
the most difficult Chinese words, that all the people 
said they had read and understood it, for otherwise 
they would have been thought stupid. 

A year passed, and the emperor and his court and 
all the other Chinamen knew every little gurgle in 
the song of the artificial bird. That was why it 
pleased them. They could sing with it, and often 
did so. Even the street boys sang: “ Tsee, tsee, 


THE NIGHTINGALE 


319 

tsee! Cluck, cluck, cluck!” and the emperor did 
just the same. It really was most enjoyable. 

But one evening, when the bird was singing its 
best, and the emperor was lying in bed listening 
to it, something inside of the bird gave way with a 
sudden snap. Then whir-r-r went all the wheels, and 
the music stopped. 

The emperor jumped out of bed and sent for his 
private physicians, but what good could they do? 
They had a watchmaker come, and after a good 
deal of talking and examining and tinkering he got 
the works to go again somehow. But he said the 
bird must be used sparingly, for the works were 
much worn, and he could not renew them so as to 
be sure that the music would go right. This caused 
great sorrow. The imitation bird could only be 
allowed to sing once a year. Each time the music- 
master made a little speech full of difficult words, 
and affirmed that the singing was just as good as ever. 
After being thus reassured the court listened to the 
bird with all their former pleasure. 

At the end of five years a great grief came on 
the nation. The Chinese were all very fond of their 
emperor, and now he was ill, and it was reported that 
he had not long to live. A new emperor had been 
selected, and would be proclaimed ruler of the empire 


THE NIGHTINGALE 


3 2 ° 

as soon as the old emperor was dead. Cloth had 
been laid down in all the rooms and corridors to 
deaden the sound of footsteps, and the palace was 
very, very quiet. Outside, about the entrance, 
many people had gathered, and they asked the 
chamberlain how their emperor was getting on. 

“ Pooh! ” he said, and shook his head. 

Pale and motionless lay the emperor in his great 
splendid bed, and presently the courtiers thought he 
was dead. So they all went away to pay their respects 
to the new emperor. The pages ran out to gossip 
about it, and the chambermaids had a grand tea- 
party. 

But the emperor was not dead yet. There he 
lay on the gorgeous bed with its velvet hangings 
and heavy gold tassels. A window stood open, and 
the moon shone in on him and the artificial bird. 
He could hardly breathe, and he felt burdened by 
a weight on his chest. He opened his eyes and saw 
that Death was sitting on his chest and wore the 
emperor’s golden crown on his head. In one hand 
he held the emperor’s golden sword, and in the other 
the emperor’s imperial banner. Round about, from 
among the folds of the velvet hangings peered many 
strange faces, some hideous, and others gentle and 
pleasant. These were all the emperor’s bad and 


THE NIGHTINGALE 321 

good deeds staring at him now that Death was sitting 
on his heart. 

“ Do you remember this?” they whispered one 
after the other. “ Do you recollect this? ” And they 
told him so many things that the perspiration ran 
down from his brow. 

“ Say no more,” begged the emperor, and then 
shouted: “ Music, music! Sound the great drum so 
that I may not hear what these faces are saying.” 

But they went on questioning him, and Death 
sat nodding his approval to all that they said. 

“ Music, music! ” shrieked the emperor. “ You 
precious little golden bird, sing, sing! I have given 
you costly jewels, and I have hung my golden garter 
round your neck. Sing, I tell you, sing! ” 

But the bird was silent. It could not sing with- 
out being wound up, and there was no one at hand 
to do that. Death continued to gaze at the emperor 
with the great empty sockets of his eyes, and all 
was still — - terribly still. 

Suddenly, through the open window, there came 
the sound of sweetest singing. The living nightingale 
was perched on a bough outside. It had heard of 
the emperor’s illness, and had come to bring comfort 
and hope to him by its singing. As it sang, the 
ghostly faces around became fainter and fainter, 


3^2 


THE NIGHTINGALE 


and the blood coursed with fresh vigor through the 
emperor’s veins, and strengthened his feeble limbs. 
Even Death listened and said, “ Go on, little night- 
ingale, go on! ” 

“ Yes,” said the nightingale, “ I will go on if you 
will give me the emperor’s beautiful golden sword 
and imperial banner and jeweled crown.” 

“ I will relinquish each of the three treasures in 
exchange for a song,” said Death. 

So the nightingale sang three songs, and the last 
was about the quiet churchyard where the roses 
bloom, and the flowers of the elder scent the air, 
and where the grass is ever moistened by the tears 
of the mourners. This song made Death desire to 
be in his own garden, and like a cold gray mist he 
floated out through the window. 

“Thanks, thanks!” said the emperor. “You 
heavenly little bird, I know you well. I banished 
you from my empire, and yet you have charmed the 
evil visions away from my bed by your song, and 
removed Death from my heart. How can I reward 
you? ” 

“ You have rewarded me,” said the nightingale, 
“ by the tears I brought to your eyes the very first 
time I sang to you. Those are the jewels which 
gladden the heart of a singer, and I shall never forget 


THE NIGHTINGALE 


323 

them. But sleep now, that you may get well and 
strong.” 

Again the nightingale sang, and the emperor fell 
into a refreshing slumber. When he awoke, the sun 
was shining in on him through the window, and he 
found himself vigorous and well. None of his at- 
tendants had yet come back to him, for they thought 
he was dead, but the nightingale still sat singing. 

“ You must always stay with me,” said the em- 
peror, “ and I will smash the imitation bird into a 
thousand pieces.” 

“ Don’t do that,” said the nightingale. “ It did 
the best it could. Keep it as before. As for me, I 
cannot build my nest and live in the palace. Let me 
come when I like, and I will sit on this bough in the 
evening and sing to you. I will sing to cheer you and 
to make you think. I will sing of those who are 
happy and of those who suffer. I will sing of what 
is good and what is evil around you. The little singing 
bird flies far and wide — to the poor fishermen, to the 
peasants in their humble cottages, and to many others 
who are distant from you and your court. I love 
your heart more than your crown, and I will come 
and sing to you, but you must grant me one 
request.” 

“ That I will do, whatever it may be,” said the 


3 2 4 


THE NIGHTINGALE 


emperor, who had now risen from his bed and put 
on his imperial robes. 

“ I only ask,” said the nightingale, “ that you 
let no one know that you have a little bird which 
tells you everything. It will be better so.” 

Then the nightingale flew away. Immediately 
afterward the attendants came in to look after their 
dead emperor. They stood aghast at sight of him, 
and the emperor said, “ Good morning! ” 


THE PRINCESS AND THE 
GIANT 


T HERE once lived a king and queen who 
ought to have been as happy as the day is 
long, for they had a large and prosperous 
kingdom in which the people were contented and 
industrious, and they had a splendid palace and 
plenty of horses and carriages; and their treasure- 
room was filled with gold, silver, and precious stones. 
Yet notwithstanding all this they were sad and sor- 
rowful, because they had no children to inherit the 
good things they possessed. 

One bright winter morning the queen went out 
into the palace garden. The snow covered the ground 
and clung to the trees and bushes, and it sparkled 
in the sunshine just as if all the jewels in the king’s 
treasury had been scattered about on it. The queen 
seated herself on a stone bench beneath a huge oak- 
tree. She had not been there long when an old man 
came down a garden path and stood before her. 


326 THE PRINCESS AND THE GIANT 

He was a wicked magician named Surtur, who lived 
in a cave not far away. 

“ O queen! ” he said, “ you have long wished for 
a child. Your wish shall be granted, and a daughter 
will be born to you; but I warn you that she will 
cause you great unhappiness. She is destined to 
marry a terrible giant, and she will burn your palace; 
and the king, her father, will perish in the flames.” 

So saying, he laughed spitefully and went away. 
The queen was greatly troubled, for she knew that 
Surtur was her enemy and that he was powerful; 
but as time went on she got over her anxiety and 
seldom thought of the old magician’s threat. At 
length the little daughter was born, and all the court 
agreed that she was the most beautiful child ever 
seen. More important still, she grew up as good 
as she was beautiful. 

Things went as well with her as could be desired 
year after year until there came a time when the 
queen told her daughter about the prophecy of the 
magician. From that day a change came over the 
princess. She no longer laughed and danced, but 
walked about the rooms alone, often weeping. Finally, 
at her request, the king built her a house in which she 
lived with her own attendants, and there she stayed 
continually, fearful that if she went to the palace 


THE PRINCESS AND THE GIANT 327 

she would bring disaster on her father, and that if 
she walked around outdoors the giant might kidnap 
her. 

Once, when she was sitting in her room, with her 
work that used to give her such pleasure lying idly 
on her lap, she heard some one knocking at the door. 
She opened it, and there stood a funny little old 
woman with a high, peaked hat on her head. The 
little old woman asked if she might come in and rest. 

“ Yes,” replied the princess listlessly. 

So the little old woman came in, and they sat 
down, and the visitor began telling some wonderful 
stories. At last the princess got so interested that 
she looked quite bright and happy, like her old self. 

Presently the old woman said: “ Now I want you 
to come into the woods with me. It is a lovely day, 
and you will enjoy walking there in the shade of the 
trees.” 

At first the princess declared she did not care to 
go, but after a while she allowed herself to be per- 
suaded, and they went forth to wander on the mossy 
paths among the tall, straight-stemmed firs and 
graceful beeches and feathery birches. The princess 
forgot her sorrow, and she laughed and ran about in 
great enjoyment. When they were tired they sat 
down on a green bank, and the old woman said, “ Tell 


328 THE PRINCESS AND THE GIANT 

me, my dear princess, why of late you have been 
so sad.” 

Her companion looked so kind and gentle that 
the princess could not refuse to answer, and she 
told of the prophecy that she would marry a terrible 
giant, and cause her father’s death by burning his 
palace. “ And oh,” she cried, “ I love my father 
dearly! He has always been very good to me. Now 
I must hasten back to my house. I ought not to have 
left it, and I never will again. If I stay in it all the 
time I cannot possibly harm my father or marry 
that horrible giant.” 

“ Wait a bit,” said the little old woman. “ I am 
your godmother, and I think we can find some way to 
avert the evils you fear. You are persecuted by 
the wicked magician, Surtur. He wanted to marry 
your mother, and when she would not have him, and 
married your father, he vowed he would never rest till 
the king was dead and she was punished. But his 
power has its limits. The king’s palace I cannot save, 
but neither your father nor mother shall be hurt. 
Nor need you fear the giant, if you will do exactly 
as I bid you. We will act at once. First see your 
father and persuade him to go out riding in the 
forest with all his attendants.” 

Greatly relieved by her godmother’s cheery words, 


THE PRINCESS AND THE GIANT 329 

the princess hastened to do as she had been bidden. 
“ Dear father,” said she, as she came into his pres- 
ence, “ the day is so fine, will you not go for a ride 
in the woods and take the courtiers with you ? ” 

The king, pleased to see her so bright and inter- 
ested, at once said he would go; and with all his 
courtiers in attendance started off for a great ex- 
cursion in the forest. 

As soon as they were well out of sight, the little 
old woman joined the princess and had her send the 
servants away on various errands, and the queen was 
induced to go and stay for a time in the house built 
for the princess. When every one was gone, the 
little old dame helped the princess carry out and 
secrete all the treasure and other valuables, and 
afterward she told the princess to take down a can 
of oil from the kitchen mantel-shelf. In doing this 
the girPs foot slipped, and the oil spilled on the 
hearth and into the fire, and at once flashed into 
flames. The princess and her godmother had to 
run for their lives, and the fire spread rapidly through 
the palace. 

They paused at a safe distance and looked back, 
and the old woman said: “Thus one part of the 
magician’s prophecy has been fulfilled without harm 
to any one. I could not prevent what has happened, 


330 THE PRINCESS AND THE GIANT 

but it might have been worse. Surtur has other 
evil designs. We will see what we can do to thwart 
them. Here is a little silver ball. Throw it on the 
ground and follow it as it rolls along. It will guide 
you to a hut in the forest, the owner of which will 
be away. Go in and await his return, and whatever 
you do, remember that you must see him before 
he sees you. Remain at the hut till I summon you. 
When you hear me calling you, do not lose an instant, 
but hasten to where your father’s palace stood. 
Your mother will need you.” 

The princess took the ball, threw it down, and 
followed it as it rolled along into the forest. At last 
it stopped before what seemed to be a woodman’s 
hut, and she picked up the ball and put it in her 
pocket. Then she went into the hut and hid behind 
the half-closed door. She peeped out through a 
crack and presently saw a huge giant coming carrying 
on his shoulders a bear he had killed in his hunting. 
He pushed open the door, and as he threw down the 
burden he beheld the princess. 

The giant looked very fierce, but his voice was 
soft and kind, and he told her he wanted her to live 
in the hut with him and cook the food and sweep 
the floor and make the beds. All this the princess 
promised to do. He then showed her a little inner 


THE PRINCESS AND THE GIANT 331 

chamber, and said, “ Here you can sleep, and no 
matter what noises you hear in my part of the hut 
during the night, don’t come out of your room.” 



Three days passed. Early each morning the giant 
went forth from the hut and did not return until 
sunset. The princess cooked the food, made the 
beds, and kept the hut tidy and clean. At night 


332 THE PRINCESS AND THE GIANT 

she heard frightful noises in the outer room, the walls 
of the hut shook, and the earth trembled, and she 
lay in her bed hardly daring to stir, with the clothes 
pulled over her ears to deaden the terrible sounds. 
Whenever she fell asleep she dreamed that a hand- 
some young prince, instead of the giant, was her 
fellow-dweller in the hut. 

On the third evening she retired early, and was 
scarcely in bed when she heard, faint and far away, 
the voice of the little old woman calling her. Then 
she knew her mother needed her, and immediately 
she jumped out of bed, dressed, and cautiously 
opened her door. No one was in the next room, and 
she ran as quickly as she could to where her father’s 
palace had stood. There, before the ruins, she saw 
her mother tied to a wooden stake that had been 
driven into the ground, and the servants were piling 
up fagots of wood around her. She had been con- 
demned to death for having set the palace on fire 
during the king’s absence, and for stealing his 
treasure. In vain she had pleaded her innocence. 

The princess pushed her way through the crowd 
and threw herself on her knees before her father. 
“ Oh, stop, stop! ” she cried eagerly. “ Dear father, 
my mother is not to blame. It was I who burned 
your palace. I was forced to do so in order to save 


THE PRINCESS AND THE GIANT 333 

your life, which was threatened by the wicked magi- 
cian, Surtur. Neither did my mother steal your 
treasure. That and much else was taken out of the 
palace to a place of safety.” 

On hearing this, the king ordered the queen to be 
released, and she embraced her daughter with many 
words of affection. 

As soon as possible the princess hurried back to 
the hut of the giant in the forest. When she ap- 
proached it she heard the sounds of a terrific combat. 
She looked in and saw the giant engaged in a struggle 
for mastery with the magician. From her pocket 
she hastily took the silver ball the little old woman 
had given to her and hurled it at the wicked Surtur. 
Her aim was true, and the moment the ball hit him 
he changed to a hawk, and with a rapid flutter of 
wings darted out of the door and disappeared. 

The giant picked up the ball, and to the surprise 
of the princess he was transformed into the handsome 
young prince she had seen in her dreams. They 
went back together to the king and queen, and before 
long there was a great marriage-feast, and the prin- 
cess became the wife of the prince she had delivered 
from his enchantment. After the death of the king 
the prince became the ruler of the kingdom, and he 
and his queen lived happily all the days of their life. 


20 1912 







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